NFL rejects affidavits from Harrison, Matthews and Peppers, demanding interviews

Things may get quite interesting between the NFL and three of its better-known names in the coming days.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that the league has rejected written affidavits from the Pittsburgh Steelers’ James Harrison and the Green Bay Packers’ Clay Matthews and Julius Peppers, and free agent Mike Neal, four of the players (along with now-retired Peyton Manning) named in January’s Al-Jazeera America documentary, linking them to performance-enhancing drug use.

The league notified Harrison, Matthews and Peppers in June that they would be interviewed by NFL investigators on the first day of their respective training camps; Neal was to be interviewed on or before July 22.

Harrison was not pleased with that idea, and in a statement on Instagram said he would meet with the league only before training camp, on the date of his choosing, at his house, and with commissioner Roger Goodell present.

It seems safe to assume the league has rejected those stipulations as well.

More from Schefter on the NFL’s decision:

“[The] NFL rejected the union’s view that affidavits constitute reasonable cooperation by the players and confirmed that they are required to participate in in-person interviews. The PED policy reflects the NFL and NFLPA’s shared commitment to protect the fairness and integrity of the competition on the field, and league believes it owes it to the players, clubs and fans to fully address any claims of this nature. NFL advised NFLPA that to move forward to resolve the allegations, league would first proceed with the Neal interview after which it would follow with the other player interviews.”

The NFL is still demanding that the active players be interviewed during training camp. The Packers open camp on Tuesday, while the Steelers open camp on July 29.