NFL to Interview Players Connected to Al Jazeera America Report on PEDs | Bleacher Report

 

The NFL has chosen to initiate an investigation of these players based upon now-recanted statements that appeared in an Al Jazeera report. The NFLPA requested from the NFL any additional evidence supporting an investigation of the players; the NFL did not provide any such evidence, nor did they inform the NFLPA or the players that any such evidence exists. Instead, the NFL has decided to publicly pressure the players into submission. We will continue to advise our players about their rights and hold the NFL accountable.

Would they bother interviewing retired players. What punishment can they give out to Peyton Manning?

 

Seems awful convenient to not have a PED scandal involving the winning QB of the Super Bowl. That recanted article was more about Peyton than any of the rest of the players named.

Seems awful convenient to not have a PED scandal involving the winning QB of the Super Bowl. That recanted article was more about Peyton than any of the rest of the players named.

 

Meanwhile Brady will miss four games for the air pressure in footballs. That shield has tons of integrity.

I will always remember the day Harrison warmed up right in front of me at training camp. He was not yet practicing with the team and was on the "B" field stretching. I don't have words to describe that guy's appearance. I hope he's innocent but wouldn't be surprised if he is dirty.

 

I was on the sidelines for a Sunday night game last season in Pittsburgh. Harrison is a specimen... I really wouldn't be surprised if he was on some new undetectable type of PED

Y'all act like James just started to look like this. He's been like that for over a decade. Check out the YouTube vids of him doing dips with 6 45 plates around his waist or a myriad of others. Maybe he's dirty. But it ain't new if he is.

Y'all act like James just started to look like this. He's been like that for over a decade. Check out the YouTube vids of him doing dips with 6 45 plates around his waist or a myriad of others. Maybe he's dirty. But it ain't new if he is.

 

I'm not sure if this was directed at my quote or not, but I agree he's always been massive I just saw it in person for the first time.

I'm not sure if this was directed at my quote or not, but I agree he's always been massive I just saw it in person for the first time.

Not intended for anyone. Just a generic comment

Y'all act like James just started to look like this. He's been like that for over a decade. Check out the YouTube vids of him doing dips with 6 45 plates around his waist or a myriad of others. Maybe he's dirty. But it ain't new if he is.

 

No doubt he has been doing PED's for a lot longer than just recently.

 

Are we supposed to care that guys take HGH and other drugs? It is the very last concern I have for football players especially.

No doubt he has been doing PED's for a lot longer than just recently.

 

Are we supposed to care that guys take HGH and other drugs? It is the very last concern I have for football players especially.

And you know this how? See, I have a concern for folks who make blind assumptions. Sure there are well documented problems with guys and drug abuse of this ilk. No evidence whatsoever he's on any of them. But he is built well so he had to be using something.

And you know this how? See, I have a concern for folks who make blind assumptions. Sure there are well documented problems with guys and drug abuse of this ilk. No evidence whatsoever he's on any of them. But he is built well so he had to be using something.

 

Well he was implicated here with this report. In a bet that could never be paid off I would gladly lay even money and take the side that he has been a user against anyone that wanted to bet he has never used. Sometimes common sense works.

Well he was implicated here with this report. In a bet that could never be paid off I would gladly lay even money and take the side that he has been a user against anyone that wanted to bet he has never used. Sometimes common sense works.

Nah, you're not an eyeball test guy, remember?

Nah, you're not an eyeball test guy, remember?

 

So this dude pulled Harrison's name out of a hat? Threw darts at a dart board? Asked a psychic?

So this dude pulled Harrison's name out of a hat? Threw darts at a dart board? Asked a psychic?

Look at the list. Tell me what you see. Peppers, Harrison, Manning. I can throw some crap on a wall for a story. Old guys trying to hang on. I'm not buying. When James fails a test I'll concede. He hasn't.

Look at the list. Tell me what you see. Peppers, Harrison, Manning. I can throw some crap on a wall for a story. Old guys trying to hang on. I'm not buying. When James fails a test I'll concede. He hasn't.

 

The only people who have ever used are the ones that failed a test now? The Manning family admitted they got these drugs for the wife? We think she needed them and not the pro athlete recovering from neck surgeries for a comeback?

 

 

Neither one of us are going to budge. We've proven that before. I am going to try to catch up on these two shootings. Like I said, and should have left it at, I would bet all the monies on him previously using if there was a way to prove one side or the other. I doubt you would bet the other side if there was a way to prove it. This isn't a Steelers thing either. I would bet he used while a Gal. I also don't care if these guys use PED's. In fact I think it should be encouraged by real doctors to an extent.

The NFL has threatened four players, including Steelers linebacker James Harrison, with suspensions if they don't they don't cooperate with the league's investigation into allegations that they all received performance-enhancing drugs from the Guyer Institute in Indiana.

 

Last month, Harrison said in an affidavit sent to the NFL by the NFL Players Association that he never violated the league's policy on performance-enhancing drugs, nor has he met the man who alleged to Al Jazeera America that he supplied Harrison with an illegal substance. Harrison has said previously that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell will have to come to his house to interview him, adding that the league must show "credible evidence that warrants an interview."

 

He extended the invitation again on Tuesday.

 

"I don't have a problem doing the interview. Come to my house. Bring Roger (Goodell) with you," Harrison said, via ESPN.com.

 

But here's the thing: The league doesn't have to show "credible evidence." That's due in part to the collective bargaining agreement, on which the players signed off before the 2011 season.

 

And now, Harrison is between a rock and a hard place; he can submit to the interview, but that will set a dangerous precedent, as ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert eloquently describes. "If someone, anyone, makes a public allegation, substantiated or otherwise, recanted or supported, of possible improper conduct, the player must submit to an investigation on the league's terms or face suspension," Seifert writes.

 

Or Harrison can refuse to be interviewed and be suspended indefinitely.

 

"If that's the case, then somebody could come out and say James Harrison is a pedophile," Harrison said in response to a question about why he doesn't get the interview over with if he has nothing to hide. "They are going to suspend me, put me under investigation for being a pedophile just because somebody said it? I'm not going to answer questions for every little thing some Tom, Dick and Harry comes up with."

 

So is the 38-year-old linebacker prepared to sit out?

 

"Definitely," he said, adding, "I'll do what I have to do. They'll do what they have to do. We'll make that decision when that time comes. ... I just am doing what I'm advised to do (by the NFLPA). It's the right thing to do."

 

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said that he isn't advising Harrison, though Harrison concedes that the team could factor into his decision.

 

"I'm sure it would lean me in that direction because I don't want to let my teammates down," Harrison said. "I don't want to let the organization down. We'll deal with that when the time comes."

 

Charlie Sly is the source for the Al Jazeera America report that implicated Harrison and three other active players -- Packers linebackers Clay Matthews and Julius Peppers, and free agent Mike Neal -- as well as recently retired Peyton Manning. Sly since recanted his account -- and Al Jazeera America has gone out of business -- and because of that, the NFLPA argues that the players shouldn't have to discuss the matter with the league.

 

The league, obviously, doesn't agree.