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.