We heard the nationally televised stance from Peyton Manning regarding the Al Jazeera report linking him to HGH usage, but James Harrison and Clay Matthews addressed their accusations following their games Sunday.
Although Manning’s name jumps out most in this report, Harrison appears prominently as well, and the Steelers linebacker predictably denied any wrongdoing, telling media (including the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s Mark Kaboly) “They never supplied me with anything. “I never took steroids. Point, blank, period. End of discussion.”
The report linked Harrison to the performance-enhancing drug Delta-2, but the 2008 defensive player of the year joined the chorus of denials emerging this weekend. At 37, Harrison is the NFL’s second-oldest defensive player behind Charles Woodson.
The Steelers declined to comment.
As for Matthews, whom the report connects with requesting Toradol and using other drugs, the Packers standout claims he did not know who alleged supplier at the Indiana-based Guyer Institute Charles Sly is (Twitter link via Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel).
“I don’t know who the guy is. I don’t know what he looks like. I haven’t talked to him,” Matthews told media.
Also named in the report were Packers linebackers Julius Peppers and Mike Neal, who both denied involvement (Twitter links via Silverstein), with Peppers calling the report “irresponsible journalism.”
Sly said in the report he ventured to the homes of both Green Bay linebackers and talked to around 25 Packers players, alleging Peppers to have taken Delta-2 “maybe two days a week.” Peppers has served a suspension for PEDs, doing so as a rookie in 2002.
Matthews was not linked to the advanced performance-enhancer due to his higher-profile stature inducing reluctance, but the report does infer past HGH usage, claiming the seventh-year veteran wasn’t using the drug “anymore.”