The Pittsburgh Steelers will wrap up their 2016 training camp at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe in a few days from now and unless something changes in hurry, veteran linebacker James Harrison will make it through the rest of the preseason without having met with the league as part of their ongoing PEDs investigation.
“There’s nothing going on,” Harrison said Monday, according to Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s a done deal.”
While Harrison might consider it a done deal, I’m willing to bet the league thinks otherwise.
Originally, the league wanted to interview Harrison the day he reported to training camp, but after being advised by the NFLPA not to grant that request, the Steelers linebacker instead submitted a signed affidavit declaring his innocence in the matter. Harrison wasn’t alone in his actions as Clay Matthews and Julius Peppers of the Green Bay Packers both did the same. Like Harrison, those two players have yet to be interviewed by the league.
The league has previously indicated that disciplinary action could be forthcoming for the players named in an Al-Jazeera America story should they not cooperate with their investigation into the allegations. Harrison claimed Monday that he has no idea what the league’s intentions are at this point as he’s heard nothing from them recently.
“That’s something you might want to talk to them about,” Harrison said, per Bouchette. “That’s it. I did what I had to do, my part. That’s it.”
The NFLPA has repeatedly insisted on “credible evidence” before it will allow the players to be interviewed and as of right now it doesn’t appear as though the league has provided them any.
The original claim was that Harrison was supplied with a banned performance-enhancing substance. Even though that claim was quickly retracted, the NFL has still insisted on interviewing Harrison and the other players who were named in the original report.
