Predictably, Mike Neal is Still Being Investigated
When Clay Matthews, Julius Peppers and James Harrison were cleared of any wrongdoing in the NFL’s bogus PED investigation earlier in the week, former Packer Mike Neal’s name was conspicuously absent.
Predictably, that’s because Neal is still under investigation. That’s curious because the NFL reportedly had no real evidence. Just a recanted statement in an Al Jazeera report.
But just because it’s curious, doesn’t mean you should be surprised.
Neal has been suspended for a PED violation before. Last December, when Matthews and Peppers were vehemently denying any wrongdoing, Neal was much less convincing in his denial. He basically said he didn’t want to talk about it.
Another factor in play is that Neal reportedly made false statements in writing to the league during their “investigation.” This was before the interviews took place.
There’s speculation that Neal was either uncooperative during his interview with the NFL or that he said something that created suspicion.
Whatever the reason, this is clearly affecting Neal’s career. He remains a free agent and with rosters currently being cut down to 53, he probably has little chance of playing this year. He’ll have to be cleared first and then someone at his position will probably have to get injured for Neal to get a look.
Right now, he just reeks of guilt.
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There is far more to this story than we know, we know very little of it, but there is more to this story. If my life was threatened with lawsuits that would result in the rest of my life ruined financially, i’d be recanting also. Just sayin.
There aren’t even any credible reports that Neal even spoke with the NFL yet. But make no mistake about one thing, Sly may have recanted, but it’s difficult to recant reality, the reality of Neal’s relationship with Sly and his business partner and his past PED usage, which is what he lied about in his statement concerning this to the NFL.
Think about it for a second, the NFL suspends Mike Neal for PED’s back in 2012. Then for the Sly investigation, he writes in a sworn letter to the NFL that he’s never used PED’s before. Stupid, isn’t a strong enough word to use.
I have a hunch that 80% of NFL players have used PED’s. Matthews, Peppers, Manning, AP, and 80% of the other dudes in the league are all “guilty” of using PED’s but who gives a fuck! That is the nature of the game. Just check out some videos of ex players talking about how rampant steroid use is in the NFL. The way they talk about it so casually you’d think it isn’t a big deal–because it isn’t. There’s too much money on the line to expect these guys to be boyscouts about it. If you think I’m delusional then you don’t know professional football, end of story. The league is aware of how rampant steroid use is and if they really wanted PED use to end they would piss test every single eligible player before every single game. However, that would be the demise of their cash cow league, so instead they just test these guys at the combine and make sure they all know they’ll be tested. The only other way they get tested is if a player gives them reason to suspect steroid use.
I agree. I also believe that Manning’s wife wasn’t taking the PED’s sent to his house in her name. I also doubt any reasonable person believes that also. The NFL couldn’t do anything, because they were in her name. Hence, he was “cleared”. Cleared, doesn’t mean he didn’t use them. Anyone who know’s steroids, knows it speeds up the healing process, and is a fantastic anti-inflamatory, and i know that 1st hand. Peyton didn’t use them for bulking up. He used them for healing, the same with Ryan Braun.
As far as PED’s making the NFL a cash cow. That’s where we disagree. IF, everyone was clean, the NFL would still be the same cash cow. The only way to clean up 90% of the steroid usage in the NFL, is if they adopted WADA, or USADA testing protocols, The NFLPA fought that for 3 years, then the league had to settle for less stringent testing to come to agreement with the NFLPA.
Yeah I agree, I just meant that if they suddenly instituted strict anti-doping policies, defaming all of the NFL’s stars and suspending them all for a season at the same time, that would surely have a negative impact on their cash flow. People would get over it but I think it would decrease viewership and ad revenue at least for a time. If they had strict regulations from the get-go it wouldn’t have any impact on their cash flow.
Remember when Julius Peppers was suspended for PEDs when he was on Carolina? Nobody seems to be talking about that.