James Harrison Makes Stand Against Proposed PED Interview

During the NFL offseason, Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison enjoys four things: working out, posting to Instagram, undermining NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, and working out some more.

Sometimes, all of those hobbies converge into one dramatic story. Such was the case on Tuesday, when Harrison took offence to the proposition that the league would interview every player implicated in last season’s Al Jazeera report about performance enhancing drugs in pro football. The report accused several players of purchasing and possibly consuming PEDs, including Harrison and Super Bowl champion Peyton Manning.

It’s tough to justify what sort of authority the NFL has to make a player who is no longer associated with the league to cooperate with the investigation. By most accounts, Manning appears to be off the hook, but Harrison isn’t going to take the indignation lying down.

The man they call “Deebo” took to social media to express his frustrations the way only he can. “I’ve never had a bully in my life and I’m DAMN sure not about to have one at this point,” he asserted. “But since I’m a nice guy and don’t mind helping to clear the air in the name of the NFL shield, I’ll do this interview. WITH THESE STIPULATIONS: The interview will be done at MY house. BEFORE training camp. On a date of MY choosing. AND Mr. Goodell must be present.”

Harrison hasn’t exactly been “employee of the month” in years past, but he has remained steadfast in his transparency regarding PED consumption.

The twelve-year veteran has never failed a random drug test in his career. Yet, he seems to be visited so often by testers that he felt comfortable enough to personally film a recent test with the intent of giving fans a look into the extremely surgical and scrutinized process. The move ultimately landed Harrison in hot water with the league, resulting in a warning that any attempt to film a future test would result in an automatic fail.

The pair hasn’t exactly been known for exchanging Christmas cards, so don’t expect Goodell to take Deebo up on his offer.