NFL senior vice president of labor policy and government affairs Adolpho Birch has informed the NFL Players Association that the players named in the December Al-Jazeera America report alleging performance-enhancing drug use will be interviewed in July.
In a memo obtained by NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport, Birch outlined a plan to interview Green Bay Packers linebackers Julius Peppers and Clay Matthews and Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison on the first day of their respective training camps. The interview for former Packers linebacker Mike Neal, currently a free agent, is scheduled to take place on or before July 22.
The NFL is conducting the investigation, Birch emphasized, because the Al-Jazeera America documentary "raised serious issues concerning their possible violation of the NFL/NFLPA Policy on Performance-Enhancing Substances."
NFL spokesman Joe Lockhart had told Rapoport in late May that the league planned to sit down with the four players "sometime next month." The process has been delayed, per Birch, due to a lack of cooperation from the NFLPA
"While the investigation has proceeded, we have yet to interview the players," Birch wrote. "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."
Former Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning -- the most prominent of the players named by Al-Jazeera America -- was not included in the memo. As a retired player, he is no longer a member of the players union.
Manning has vehemently denied accusations he used human-growth hormone or PEDs during his recovery from neck surgery in 2011.