The Al-Jazeera America report that linked many NFL players to PED’s including Peyton Manning has actually outlasted the network’s existence, and James Harrison is set to meet with the league tomorrow morning about this very issue. And he’s still quite angry about it.
Harrison called the interview a “waste of time” after Wednesday’s Steelers practice. He also strongly believes the league will come up empty-handed in its hunt because there’s no truth to any of the allegations stemming from the report. An NFLPA attorney will be present to help limit the questions to only those about the report. Packers LBs Julius Peppers and Clay Matthews met with the league’s investigators today and free agent linebacker Mike Neal will also meet with the league tomorrow.
“They are going to clear my name and give me the same sendoff they gave [retired quarterback] Peyton Manning,” Harrison said. “I’m going to be cleared. They are going to give me the same thing, flash, across the bulletin board, NFL, Instagram, Twitter, all that — ‘James Harrison cleared.'” Harrison said after practice today.
Initially, the league was supposed to meet with Harrison next Tuesday, but the meeting was pushed up five days after the league sent out a letter threatening suspensions if the players didn’t meet with them before August 25.
“If it leads to the hands of that crook, I mean [commissioner] Roger Goodell, he can do whatever he wants,” said Harrison, who wants to broadcast his interview for transparency purposes. “That’s just the collective bargaining agreement that the players signed [in 2011].”
[…]
“I’m not anxious, man,” Harrison said. “It’s a stupid thing I gotta do to continue doing what it is I want to do and trying to get to where we want to be, and that’s holding a Lombardi [trophy].
“Me sitting out or having to sit out a season is not it.”
This story isn’t going away anytime soon even though it is from a news outlet that no longer exists. Only in the NFL.
[ESPN]
