Harrison, Matthews and Peppers adamantly deny the allegations in the Al Jazeera America report that was released in December, calling the report “flimsy”, “bogus” and “nonsense”. The league has cleared Manning of all the charges.
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Vice president of labor policy and league affairs Adolpho Birch wrote the league has a “good faith basis” for investigating potential violations of the NFL’s drug policy, yet the league has made at least seven unsuccessful attempts to interview these players.
Any suspension will remain in effect until the players meet with league investigators and then Commissioner Roger Goodell will decide whether to lift any disciplinary action.
Now, the same clause could potentially bite four more National Football League players.
Neal is now a free agent. The list of players who could potentially miss time over this issue includes James Harrison, Clay Matthews, and Julius Peppers.
Harrison, a 14-year veteran, is a longtime leader of the Steelers. On Tuesday, the Steelers star linebacker say he’s not sure what that decision might be.
Harrison said that he was “unsure” if he felt he was being used as a pawn in a larger fight between the league and the union but again reiterated that he is not opposed to being interviewed to get the situation out of the way but under one condition.
Harrison’s agent, Bill Parise, told CBS Sports NFL Insider Jason La Canfora that Harrison would be open to an interview. Are they going to suspend me, put me under investigation for being a pedophile just because somebody said it?
Yeah, you read that right.
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers isn’t very happy the NFL is trying to strong-arm his teammates into speaking with league investigators.
The NFL reportedly stated in a written letter to Harrison on Monday that they will suspend him indefinitely if he fails to interview with the league by August 25.
Asked if he would have to make contingency plans for Matthews and Peppers not being available come the start of the regular season, Thompson said no. The NFLPA, from the time it sent an affidavit on the players’ behalf, had to know that NFL punishment would eventually be the result. “You’d rather have those players than not”.
The NFLPA did not respond to a request for comment on the NFL’s ultimatum.
The union has also argued that the players should not have to cooperate with the investigation due to Charlie Sly, the former clinic for anti-aging, who implicated the four players in footage from hidden cameras, later recanted the claims.
We can not accept your unilateral assertion that the cursory, untested statements you have submitted satisfy the players obligation, Birch wrote. Accordingly, the Commissioner has directed that Messrs.
Matthews and Peppers both have maintained their innocence but have not addressed their options since Monday’s development. The interview has yet to take place and has left some wondering why.
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“We have nobody to blame but ourselves because we had the opportunity in the CBA to make some legitimate changes to that”, Rodgers said Wednesday on the Jim Rome Show.
