Guilty until proven innocent
If there is anybody to sympathize with this situation, it is Tom Brady, the quarterback of the New England Patriots. By now, most of you have heard that the NFL released a statement which stated that if Green Bay Packers OLB's Clay Matthews and Julius Peppers, OLB James Harrison of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and free agent OLB Mike Neal (who was a Packer his entire career) will get suspended if they don't interview with the NFL about the Al Jazeera report by August 25th.
I understand why these guys don't feel like it is there business to interview with the NFL, for one, the Al Jazeera report is considered fraudulent, and accusations regarding Peyton Manning and baseball players Ryan Howard and Ryan Zimmerman have been removed. In other words, they already seem like they are innocent. There's also the NFLPA probably insisting they exercise their rights and not do anything, etc. They also don't want the NFL to "misinterpret" anything, like the NFL lately has been known to do and give them a suspension anyways. And, there is the fact that they are innocent until proven guilty, or at least that's what people were taught growing up. Finally, why can't the NFL do its' own investigation without interviews from the players? Isn't there already enough evidence suggesting they are innocent?
But, only under these circumstances, the NFL has a right to be a little suspicious at this point. A) Why can't they just get it over with and interview, since they are claiming innocence? B) It's kind of weird that three players are all Packers outside linebackers, you'd think it would be a little more random if it was fraudulent. But then again, that's not really an argument, it's just kind of weird.
If I were these guys, I'd get in there right away and get it over with, because, as Tom Brady is the prime example, non-cooperation with the NFL is the equivalent of automatic guilt, and could thereby give the players a six game suspension, assuming the NFL treats the lack of an interview equal to a "cover up drug", as a four game suspension is the result of positive testing for PEDs for first time players. It's all ridiculous, from both parties, but of course Roger Goodell and the NFL seem to be in the wrong here.
I'm sure the people most concerned with this are Packer fans (like myself), and wonder what this means for the team. Losing Peppers and Matthews is devastating, just losing Matthews is devastating, but having Peppers come in "fresh" in week 5 or so doesn't sound so bad to me. The Packers have the depth at OLB to cover up a loss of Peppers, but the quintet of Datone Jones, Nick Perry, Jay Elliott, Kyler Fackrell and Lerentee McCray doesn't really strike fear into offensive tackles. The Packers NEED Clay Matthews, and having a healthy, productive Julius Peppers is just an added bonus. Five of the first six games are more than winnable without those guys, and the only one that I think the Packers are the underdog for anyways is at Minnesota week 2 when they open the new stadium. The other games are at Jacksonville, Detroit, NY Giants, Dallas and Chicago at home, with a bye in the mix. Four home games and at Jacksonville. The Pack should go 5-1 regardless, minimum. No need to worry, yet, Packers fans.
