Harrison has until 8/25 to give interview or face suspension

[rooneytunes]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nf ... /88800352/

[rocky mtn stiller]

investigating a nationally televised report

So if it's on TV, it has to be investigated? I'm trying to wrap my head around how a defunct news outfit, Al Jazeera America, has any credibility in the first place. The investigation has to start with the reporter producing the evidence. This is a witch hunt.

[Kodiak]

This is insane. How can the NFL possibly have grounds to suspend a player for refusing an interview based on a news report from an agency that no longer exists?

And how could the NFLPA stand for this? In fact, I would think the NFLPA would be telling these guys NOT to cooperate. You either have evidence to suspend me or not - then and only then will I make statements in an appeal.

[Louis Lipps Service]

This is insane. How can the NFL possibly have grounds to suspend a player for refusing an interview based on a news report from an agency that no longer exists?

And how could the NFLPA stand for this? In fact, I would think the NFLPA would be telling these guys NOT to cooperate. You either have evidence to suspend me or not - then and only then will I make statements in an appeal.

NFLPA let Goodell have omnipotent power when they approved the current CBA. Not much they can do but sit back and watch with their thumbs up their asses, as Tom Brady has found out.

[Orangesteel]

Funny this is all becoming more of an issue now that the golden boy porpoise face Manning is only doing Directv commercials.

[stillthere]

Funny this is all becoming more of an issue now that the golden boy porpoise face Manning is only doing Directv commercials.

Hammer meet nail. If Manning had not retired this all is never even brought back up.

[Steelknife]

The NFLPA is the weakest players union in all professional sports leagues. True or false?

[Orangesteel]

The NFLPA is the weakest players union in all professional sports leagues. True or false?

True. It's misleading to even call the NFLPA a union.

[Kodiak]

NFLPA let Goodell have omnipotent power when they approved the current CBA.

True, however this is almost certainly overstepping bounds. Suspending a player because he refused questions around an unsubstantiated media report?!? Despite his near "omnipotent" power, this is outside the scope of his authority under the CBA.

[steelmann58]

fucking joke but the players have no issue but to comply with the king.

[BethlehemSteel]

With the Brady and Peterson's cases settled in His favor, more power to screw he has.

They rejected the signed affidavits too, total power move and more bad news to drive the every hungry 24/7 media cycle

ROGERWWEGOODELL

[Legacy User]

Harrison gave his stipulations for the meeting way back before OTAs started. Now they want to change the game?

Why hasnt any other "investigative journalist" taken up this torch? You mean to tell me that some jerk journalist in New England isnt chomping at the bit to stick it to Peyton- even in retirement?

If they are all guilty and then the press can roast the league on why they didn't go after Peyton sooner. It could show a bias and the players could get Rogers powers curbed. This investigation could have ended months ago and not drug on in the hopes of judging and convicting some and exonerating others based on due process technicalities.

He can normally wrap that up in "protecting the shield" but if this is true, he let a known cheat play QB in the SB- two years in a row.

[Steel Ubaldo]

The players have to play the game and go talk to him. They will get suspended if they don't do it

Goodell has ALL the power.

It was funny how tough DeMaurice talked after he was elected head of the NFLPA. No one was going to pull the wool over his eyes. He talked so tough. After all, while he had no football experience, he worked for the US Justice Department and had ties to presidential power. What a joke this guy is!!!

The players are getting exactly what they deserve for voting for this guy to lead them AND voting to approve the collective bargaining agreement. I know the Steelers voted against the agreement but the rest of the teams were in favor. Those teams, like DeMaurice, only thought about the money and nothing else. Now everyone has to play by Roger's Rules.

[StillMadAtSlobber]

NFLPA let Goodell have omnipotent power when they approved the current CBA.

True, however this is almost certainly overstepping bounds. Suspending a player because he refused questions around an unsubstantiated media report?!? Despite his near "omnipotent" power, this is outside the scope of his authority under the CBA.

Bingo, this is total overstepping of bounds and the CBA.
There is a separate PED policy which covers this.
This is the league trying to be shitheads and lay down the "integrity of the game" hammer for non-cooperation with the witch hunt that doesnt meet the standard of the PED policy.

[Steel Ubaldo]

The Goodell is overstepping his power. However, he overstepped his bounds with Brady. There is a separate penalty in place for equipment violation that Goodell disregarded and suspended Brady for 4 games. The collective bargaining agreement is a disaster for players when it comes to Goodell's power. This is what the players, led by Capt Hardass DeMaurice Smith, agreed to. They are stuck with it.

[Nick79]

So what is the point? They ask Harrison if he did it and he say's "no", what do they do then? Suspend him after the fact with no real evidence, like a positive drug test? Honestly, I'm about ready to give up on the NFL! Too many rules, to much investigation, policing and punishment and not enough SPORT anymore. This is not the NFL that grew into this multi-billion dollar monster. This is not what created the fans from my generation anyways, that stuff is long gone.

[Kodiak]

The Goodell is overstepping his power. However, he overstepped his bounds with Brady. There is a separate penalty in place for equipment violation that Goodell disregarded and suspended Brady for 4 games. The collective bargaining agreement is a disaster for players when it comes to Goodell's power. This is what the players, led by Capt Hardass DeMaurice Smith, agreed to. They are stuck with it.

No, what's different about Brady is they had EVIDENCE....and THEN Goodell is judge, jury and executioner.

This case is flat out a violation of the CBA, because the commissioner would be using disciplinary powers granted to him to do an end around player rights and protections under the CBA. Harrison and the other guys know it - that's why they are refusing to meet with him eventhough they know it's just a formality dog-n-pony show.

The commish CANNOT make something up, or proceed without evidence, just so he can single a player out under the disciplinary policy he would otherwise not be able to touch. He CANNOT go up to Antonio Brown and say "hey, you didn't return my call - you're suspended". The CBA does not give him that authority.

[Steel Ubaldo]

The NFL had evidence of an equipment violation in the Brady case. The CBA set forth the penalty for that violation. Goodell then went and suspended Brady under a different section of the CBA for the same equipment violation. This is what will happen in this case as well if the players don't talk.

I'm not saying I like it or agree with it. The NFL owners, Rooneys included, must be ok with all this since Goodell is their mouthpiece.

[Steel Mike]

The NFL had evidence of an equipment violation in the Brady case. The CBA set forth the penalty for that violation. Goodell then went and suspended Brady under a different section of the CBA for the same equipment violation. This is what will happen in this case as well if the players don't talk.

I'm not saying I like it or agree with it. The NFL owners, Rooneys included, must be ok with all this since Goodell is their mouthpiece.

The bolded was exactly what I was thinking yesterday... but why would the owners be ok with it? Is Rog going rouge? Rouge Goodell?

[jebrick]

NFLPA let Goodell have omnipotent power when they approved the current CBA.

True, however this is almost certainly overstepping bounds. Suspending a player because he refused questions around an unsubstantiated media report?!? Despite his near "omnipotent" power, this is outside the scope of his authority under the CBA.

That has been decided. By the CBA, all players must cooperate with the NFL on investigations. Brady was suspended not for PSI but for not cooperating. Harrison wants to be principled but he and all the other players will lose.

[Kodiak]

That has been decided. By the CBA, all players must cooperate with the NFL on investigations. Brady was suspended not for PSI but for not cooperating. Harrison wants to be principled but he and all the other players will lose.

I'm pretty sure you can't be compelled to respond to a witch hunt. They had evidence in the Brady case, for which they can demand a statement. In Ben's case, they had a police report and a civil complaint.

Drumming up a witch hunt, and compelling the player to respond, is discriminatory, unequal and unfair. Pretty much every CBA in the history of collective bargaining prevents such "harassment"....that's one of the main reasons for having a union.

[jebrick]

That has been decided. By the CBA, all players must cooperate with the NFL on investigations. Brady was suspended not for PSI but for not cooperating. Harrison wants to be principled but he and all the other players will lose.

I'm pretty sure you can't be compelled to respond to a witch hunt. They had evidence in the Brady case, for which they can demand a statement. In Ben's case, they had a police report and a civil complaint.

Drumming up a witch hunt, and compelling the player to respond, is discriminatory, unequal and unfair. Pretty much every CBA in the history of collective bargaining prevents such "harassment"....that's one of the main reasons for having a union.

Harrison and all NFL players are signatories to the CBA so they have agreed to the rules. They have bad evidence here but the players must cooperate in any investigation. If they have no evidence and the charges are baseless then Harrison ( and the others ) should swallow their pride and do the interview.

I understand that Harrison wants to make a point and I think that it has been made but getting suspended over it is foolish. The players will not win in court over this. James should get voted into the Union management so he can help negotiate the next deal.

[Legacy User]

Gotta hate being involved in any PED investigation alongside Clay Matthews

Kinda like getting investigated for coke and hookers alongside Charlie Sheen

Clay Matthews is guilty of whatever they say he's using and a pile more.

[Kodiak]

Harrison and all NFL players are signatories to the CBA so they have agreed to the rules.

I don't disagree. What you're not understanding is I'm saying the CBA almost certainly DOES NOT give Goodell the authority to manufacture an investigation and then discipline players for not cooperating.

Goodell does not actually have unlimited power. He has broad DISCRETION, but that does not give him the authority to do what could easily be argued as singling out individual players for harassment.

To my knowledge, players have never been subject to discipline for what amounts to hearsay. Goodell is obviously operating under the "if there's smoke..." theory, but without evidence nothing is going to stick.

[jebrick]

Harrison and all NFL players are signatories to the CBA so they have agreed to the rules.

I don't disagree. What you're not understanding is I'm saying the CBA almost certainly DOES NOT give Goodell the authority to manufacture an investigation and then discipline players for not cooperating.

Goodell does not actually have unlimited power. He has broad DISCRETION, but that does not give him the authority to do what could easily be argued as singling out individual players for harassment.

To my knowledge, players have never been subject to discipline for what amounts to hearsay. Goodell is obviously operating under the "if there's smoke..." theory, but without evidence nothing is going to stick.

I totally agree. The NFL is using a discredited source as the basis to open the investigation. I think at this point the NFL is not going to back down in asking for a pointless interview as precedence.

[jebrick]

http://www.espn.com/blog/nflnation/post ... like-crazy

The NFL already has a PEDs policy, to which all four players have been subject. The policy's testing procedure should be the source of any allegation. Unless one or more of them have tested positive, they are innocent under the terms of the agreed NFL-NFLPA policy. The policy does allow for discipline if violations are found through "sufficient credible documented evidence," but unless the NFL has uncovered something more than Al-Jazeera did from a now-discredited source, it's difficult to imagine what that might be.

In this case, the NFL is asking the players to step outside the policy and answer to the allegation anyway. Ask Brady and Hargrove, both of whom denied their respective accusations from the start, how that worked out for them.

In truth, this really isn't about PEDs. Again, the NFL has a policy for that. This is another maneuver in the now-ubiquitous power struggle between the league and its players. The NFL is emboldened by its legal victory over Brady and is using the same broad authority -- as written in Article 46 of the collective bargaining agreement -- to compel participation in an otherwise out-of-policy investigation.

[Legacy User]

Gotta hate being involved in any PED investigation alongside Clay Matthews

Kinda like getting investigated for coke and hookers alongside Charlie Sheen

Clay Matthews is guilty of whatever they say he's using and a pile more.

So is 37 year old James Harrison and Julius Peppers, who pissed hot before.

[Legacy User]

Gotta hate being involved in any PED investigation alongside Clay Matthews

Kinda like getting investigated for coke and hookers alongside Charlie Sheen

Clay Matthews is guilty of whatever they say he's using and a pile more.

So is 37 year old James Harrison and Julius Peppers, who pissed hot before.

Yeah, I'm going to have to agree with Wood on this one.

[jeemie]

Harrison says he'll take the advice of the NFLPA, but is prepared to sit out the season if he has to.

[rooneytunes]

Welp

James Harrison is prepared to sit out, if necessary
Posted by Mike Florio on August 16, 2016, 1:56 PM EDT

As the NFL Players Association formulates a plan for responding to the NFL’s interview-or-else mandate directed to Packers linebacker Clay Matthews, Packers linebacker Julius Peppers, Steelers linebacker James Harrison, and free-agent defensive lineman Mike Neal, Harrison is willing to sit out, if it’s the right thing to do.

Even though Harrison claims he has nothing to hide — he reiterated an invitation to conduct the interview at his house, with Commissioner Roger Goodell attending — Harrison realizes that compelling players to give evidence in response to unsubstantiated allegations opens the door for a wide variety of outcomes.

“Somebody could come out and say James Harrison is a pedophile,” Harrison said, via Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com. “They are going to suspend me, put me under investigation for being a pedophile just because somebody said it? I’m not going to answer questions for every little thing some Tom, Dick and Harry comes up with.”

As a result, Harrison will take the advice of the NFLPA.

“I’ll do what I have to do,” Harrison said. “They’ll do what they have to do. We’ll make that decision when that time comes. . . . I just am doing what I’m advised to do [by the NFLPA]. It’s the right thing to do.”

With the deadline for talking nine days away, the only thing for the NFLPA to do will be to seek an immediate ruling from a third party regarding whether Article 46 trumps the PED policy on the question of whether players are compelled to provide testimony that can be used against them for PED allegations unrelated to a positive test or a violation of the law.