NFL to interview players named in Al-Jazeera report on PEDs

The NFL plans to interview players named in an Al-Jazeera America report last year linking them to performance-enhancing drugs.

Green Bay Packers linebackers Julius Peppers and Clay Matthews and Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison will be interviewed in July, according to a letter obtained by media outlets on Friday.

NFL senior vice president of labor policy and government affairs Adolpho Birch has informed the NFL Players Association that the league will meet with the three players at the start of training camp.

The Packers open camp on July 26 and the Steelers begin on July 29.

The NFL's interview for former Packers linebacker Mike Neal, currently a free agent, is scheduled to take place on or before July 22, according to the letter.

Now-retired Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning was the highest-profile name linked to PEDs in the Al-Jazeera America documentary that aired in December. The report alleged that Manning was given a supply of human growth hormone in 2011 from an Indiana-based anti-aging clinic.

As a retired player, Manning is no longer a member of the players union. He has vehemently denied accusations he used human-growth hormone or PEDs during his recovery from neck surgery in 2011.

Manning was not mentioned in the letter but a source told USA Today Sports that the NFL investigation is still progressing.

Four weeks after winning the second Super Bowl title of his 18-year NFL career, Manning officially decided to ride off into the sunset, announcing his retirement in March.

The allegations in the Al-Jazeera report were made by Charlie Sly, a former anti-aging clinic intern who was secretly videotaped as part of the documentary. Sly has since recanted.

"On January 11, 2016, the league notified Messrs. Peppers, Neal, Matthews and Harrison that it had initiated an investigation following the airing of the Al-Jazeera America documentary, which raised serious issues concerning their possible violation of the NFL/NFLPA Policy on Performance-Enhancing Substances," Birch wrote in the letter to the players' union. "The players were further advised that, with their full and timely cooperation, the investigation would be conducted expeditiously and with minimal disruption.

"While the investigation has proceeded, we have yet to interview the players. We have attempted since early April to work through the NFLPA to schedule them, but despite multiple requests the NFLPA has failed to respond, except to seek reconsideration of the basis for the investigation. This continuing delay and avoidance has obstructed our ability to conduct and conclude the investigation.

"In fairness to all, including the players involved, we must move forward with the interviews. Accordingly, this will advise that the interviews of Messrs. Peppers, Matthews and Harrison will be scheduled for the first day of their respective training camps, and the interview of Mr. Neal (free agent) will take place on or before July 22. The players will be advised of the specific scheduling details by separate correspondence on which the NFLPA will be copied, and of course an NFLPA representative may attend each interview should the player so request."