NFL will talk to Matthews, and Peppers regarding the Al-Jazeera report.....

Why does it feel like the season's over?

I'd bet neither CM3 or Peppers ever met Al Jazeera. Does he frequent the Golden Corral?

I watched it.   Mike Neal is apparently the lynch pin with his relationship with Sligh going back to Purdue.  They tagged the hell out of Dustin Keller.  Neal looks bad, real bad and appears to be the guy that brought him the Green Bay basically as a business venture for their front company Promed. 

The comments on Matthews and Peppers seemed to be Matthews was primarily looking for pain meds, which aren't banned and Peppers did D2 on a limited basis for recovery.  Either way the association is no bueno and well, "duh". 

Take it as you may, this looks bad and Mike Neal was the conduit.

Shoot, just hate the distraction......   

Going to be more than a distraction, suspensions at minimum.

Sigh.

How many games will Manning get?

We're doomed!!

The Al Jazeera report is available on Youtube. I can't link it for some reason.

It's based on secret tape recordings by an athlete posing as a European Olympic hopeful who gains this guy Sly's trust and records him implicating people.  He was Mike Neal's friend and calls him the biggest steroid user of them all. Says he spent 6 weeks in Green Bay: "I set Mike's stuff up, but then he started bringing everybody. I'm not even joking, more than half the team started to come by."  Says he told 10-12 players how to get set up with the growth hormone Delta 2 (a banned PED) and that Peppers was using it twice a week, "mostly for recovery."

The guy (Sly) gets a text from Clay Matthews while he's being recorded and says it was Matthews looking for Toradol (non-banned prescription anti-inflammatory) for his ankle. Previously said he was getting him Percoset for pain from injuries, and says Matthews was previously boosting his hormone levels with undetectable stuff, including HGH and Ipamorelin. Says Matthews didn't push the envelope because he is a high profile guy ( he is explaining this to a European), so he wasn't using HGH anymore and never used D2.

So that's why Peppers and Matthews are getting interviewed, but it could get even worse if they get names to other players visiting this guy. He makes half the team look like cheaters.

This sucks. Secretly taping someone is illegal, but that probably doesn't matter to the NFL. If Goodell thinks this guy's taped admissions are sufficient credible evidence...ugh. 

The one thing that made me laugh about this documentary was about baseball.  It just confirmed how bad baseball was.  They interviewed the guy responsible for testing in MLB and basically he states some new incoming VP tells him, " What do you think you do here?  You were forced on us and nobody likes you" (paraphrasing).

It really doesn't look good and pretty much not because every other team is doing the same thing but that Mike Neal was like a pimp for this guy Sligh.  This guy talked about how he "built" Dustin Keller and the obscene amount of PEDs he used.  

Still remember the reports about Neal in the draft, "Could lift the weightroom" and "Country strong".  I don't think people know what the **** "country strong" means.

Basically the NFL will have to do something to not look like the hypocrites we all know pro sports to be.  I'm betting there will be a heavy hand.

Agree about Neal looking really bad in the piece. Do have to wonder if it has anything to do with his present lack of employment.

The NFL doesn't want guys to stop using PED's, but I agree, they need to make a show of this.  

Time to suspend the whole NFL and be done with it.

What if they find that PED's reduce the chances of CTE?  

Mind/Blown

Unfortunately, the Packers don't have a rich owner to pull the players' nuts out of the fire. 

michiganjoe posted:

Agree about Neal looking really bad in the piece. Do have to wonder if it has anything to do with his present lack of employment.

Absolutely. The report has been out there since last year and the USA Today article says the investigation has been ongoing.

They know Matthews was texting the guy, so there are paper trails to pursue on him, possible criminal activity, all kinds of yummy scandal for the national media.

Yay, football and the circus both under one tent.

What is the NFL doing? If they suspend players based on Al Jeezy the terrorists have already won! 

GreenBayLA posted:

What is the NFL doing? If they suspend players based on Al Jeezy the terrorists have already won! 

Ya got any verified info of bad Al Jeezy reporting?

We need Trump to get involved in this.  Those rotten Islamic Terrorists have invaded the NFL.

Make the NFL great again......

Henry posted:

Going to be more than a distraction, suspensions at minimum.

Suspensions because of this guys comments or suspensions because of failed tests?

They don't need failed tests. The USA Today article sets forth the standard: "sufficient credible documented evidence."  Pretty broad.

Read it, there are a number of examples given. This isn't a criminal charge in a courtroom. These recordings could easily qualify.  

The guy does not realize he is being recorded, and he is giving verifiable details. 

Did any of them fail a drug test? If not, this is just a dog & pony show because it's the "slow season". Gotta keep the NFL in the news.

Good luck suspending a player without a failed drug test. It's all hearsay.

Go ahead. Suspend half the Packer team & watch the precious ratings hit all-time lows.

If the NFL tries to suspend any players based on texts and recordings and not failed drug tests, it will make Deflate Gate look like a bit of a problem. 

The CBA is very specific in regard to banned substances and suspensions.

The texts and recordings might fall under the conduct portion, but texting and talking to someone about "stuff" is pretty minor. 

Failed tests looks bad from the image the NFL attempts to portray, associating with this guy Sly is inconsequential. For the image, the league can say no failed tests, just some bad judgement in talking with Sly.

Tom Pelissero cites the CBA in the USA Today article:

"The collective bargaining drug policy allows for the NFL to discipline players 'found through sufficient credible evidence to have used, possessed or distributed performance-enhancing substances," even if they didn't fail a test or run afoul of the law. A footnote says, 'sufficient credible evidence includes but is not limited to: criminal convictions or plea arrangements, admissions, declarations, affidavits, authenticated witness statements, corroborated law enforcement reports or testimony in legal proceedings, authenticated banking, telephone, medical or pharmacy records; or credible information from players who provide assistance pursuant to Section 10 of the policy.'"

The NFL will be looking for corroboration, and our guys are going to have some tough questions to answer. They can't stonewall. 

With Matthews, the toughest one might be, "Who's your cell-phone carrier, Clay?"

Pistol GB posted:

They don't need failed tests. The USA Today article sets forth the standard: "sufficient credible documented evidence."  Pretty broad.

Read it, there are a number of examples given. This isn't a criminal charge in a courtroom. These recordings could easily qualify.  

The guy does not realize he is being recorded, and he is giving verifiable details. 

Read the USA article and watched the Al Jazeera report.

From the USA Today article the NFL is basing their investigation on the Al Ajzeera report, and not further evidence:

The union responded in a statement late Friday: "The NFL has chosen to initiate an investigation of these players based upon now-recanted statements that appeared in an Al Jazeera report. The NFLPA requested from the NFL any additional evidence supporting an investigation of the players; the NFL did not provide any such evidence, nor did they inform the NFLPA or the players that any such evidence exists. Instead, the NFL has decided to publicly pressure the players into submission. We will continue to advise our players about their rights and hold the NFL accountable."

Regarding the sufficient credible documented evidence, I think that is referring to the CBA:

The collectively bargained drug policy allows for the NFL to discipline players “found through sufficient credible documented evidence … to have used, possessed or distributed performance-enhancing substances,” even if they didn’t fail a test or run afoul of the law. A footnote says “sufficient credible evidence includes but is not limited to: criminal convictions or plea arrangements; admissions, declarations, affidavits, authenticated witness statements, corroborated law enforcement reports or testimony in legal proceedings; authenticated banking, telephone, medical or pharmacy records; or credible information obtained from Players who provide assistance pursuant to Section 10 of the Policy.”

So, and unless I missed something, Sly's statements about the "12" Packers do not sound that damning to me.

Told them about it and directed them, didn't deliver it to them, and didn't have to get involved.

Lastly, the comments on CM3.

A - I don't believe toradol is banned by the NFL

B - There were players who brought a suit against the league and the use of toradol so CM3 might have more of a problem with his Union, than the League.

Lance Armstrong never failed a test either.  Apples and oranges for sure but......

Right & he won 5 Tour de France races plus donated like 1/2 a Billion with a "B" to prostate cancer research. 

If these athletes want to "do roids" to win, have at it. It's your body. The "squeaky clean" $hield just got a lot more tarnished.

Toradol is prescription only. Obtaining it without one is a crime. On that part, CM could be out of the PED fire and into the personal conduct pot (with the NFL only, without the drugs Brown County cops won't have squat).

Plus those texts could tend to corroborate everything else Charlie Sly said on tape. As dirty as he is, and the guy is filthy, the texts (if they exist) will give some credence to his statements.

The boys are going to be in a tight spot in these interviews.  They are probably going to ask Clay for his consent in getting his cell phone records, and he'll look bad if he refuses.   Neal goes first, and they'll have big leverage on him. He could sink the other 2 to save his own ass.

Really what it comes down to is how hard does Goodell want to pursue it.

Personally, I think the NFL is trying to avoid what MLB has become, which is basically 1 step away from openly advocating for roids.  

The NFL is just so hamhanded in their hypocrisy that the word "investigation" can never have a good connotation. 

I'd be curious as to what and who recanted information.  Sly?  Well, no ****.  "Of course all that stuff I said about my customers and illegal business is wrong".

Is Mike Neal currently signed with a team?  If not, early retirement could save him a lot of trouble.

BTW, how god awful average must Mike Neal be without his chemistry set?  The reason why I would like to see some kind of modicum of control in sports is to see the real athletes.  To appreciate effort instead of designer athletes.  

When you hear athletes today talk about "training and dedication" it just comes off as hollow bull**** when you have guys like Sly saying he can take anyone and turn them into a world class athlete.  

I enjoy sports for the intangibles just as much as the scoreboard.  There's a reason I quit watching MLB  even though I love baseball.  But in the end I guess I'm just kidding myself about the entire world of sports these days.  If it's going to be this way I'd rather just watch cyborgs play sports.  Then you could appreciate the engineering.

Boris posted:

Right & he won 5 Tour de France races plus donated like 1/2 a Billion with a "B" to prostate cancer research. 

If these athletes want to "do roids" to win, have at it. It's your body. The "squeaky clean" $hield just got a lot more tarnished.

7, and he was stripped of those

Their fate rests on whether Goodell thinks they are guilty, doesn't matter if they are or aren't and it doesn't matter if there is circumstantial evidence or even no evidence. If he wants to sink these guys then they're sunk. 

Sticking a needle in your ass does make you faster, stronger, or make you ripped. These guys still have to bust their asses in the gym to get the results. These PEDs are simply something to make your workouts more productive. 

But it can take a person and raise their ceiling. That's the issue. 

I have a hard time believing that this is going to torpedo anyone's careers. It's a Pandora's box and I'm not sure the NFL wants to open it. 

Grave Digger posted:

Their fate rests on whether Goodell thinks they are guilty, doesn't matter if they are or aren't and it doesn't matter if there is circumstantial evidence or even no evidence. If he wants to sink these guys then they're sunk. 

I get the sentiment and it is true at the outset, but on appeal he'll enough need evidence to meet the standard posted above.

Unfortunately that ain't much.

It is a broad standard and hearsay is specifically allowed. Best thing we got is Al Jazeera started it.

Like I said, as far as he wants to push it.

Music City posted:

Sticking a needle in your ass does make you faster, stronger, or make you ripped. These guys still have to bust their asses in the gym to get the results. These PEDs are simply something to make your workouts more productive. 

But it can take a person and raise their ceiling. That's the issue. 

I have a hard time believing that this is going to torpedo anyone's careers. It's a Pandora's box and I'm not sure the NFL wants to open it. 

Yes it makes you faster and stronger. That's why it is banned, and that is the issue.

The Pandora's box is open. That is what the NFL just announced.