Written by Ken Belson at New York Times.com
The N.F.L. has threatened to indefinitely suspend four players because they have declined to cooperate with an investigation into a news report that linked them to performance-enhancing drugs.
If the league follows through on its threat to suspend the players, it would represent a dramatic expansion of the commissioner’s powers to penalize players. The rules governing the use of performance-enhancing drugs are jointly negotiated by the league and the players union, and the penalties are clearly established. Now, the league is suggesting that it is willing to suspend players for not cooperating in an investigation of performance-enhancing drugs.
In a letter sent to the N.F.L. Players Association on Monday, Adolpho Birch, the senior vice president for labor policy at the league, said that James Harrison, a linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers; Clay Matthews, a linebacker for the Green Bay Packers; Mike Neal, a free agent who last played for the Packers; and Julius Peppers, also a linebacker for the Packers, would all be suspended starting Aug. 26 if they did not speak to the league about allegations made in a documentary by Al Jazeera.
In the documentary, which was broadcast in late December, Charlie Sly, a pharmacist in Texas, told an undercover reporter that he provided performance-enhancing drugs to the players. Sly said that he spent weeks in Green Bay during training camp last year and met with about half the members of the team.
Sly has since recanted everything he told Liam Collins, the undercover reporter, which is why the players association has maintained that Harrison, Matthews, Neal and Peppers do not have to speak to the league about the allegations.
In his letter to the union, Birch said if the players did not provide interviews by Aug. 25, “their actions will constitute conduct detrimental, and they will be suspended, separate and apart from any possible future determination that they violated the steroid policy.”
To continue reading this article, click here.
