James Harrison will be returning for his 14th NFL season in 2016 with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and his announcement was promptly met by the NFL with one of their own. The 38 year old linebacker was “subjected” to a random PED test, of which he documented on Instagram (at least the SFW parts).
That was part one, and after the generation of the actual sample (which was part two), part three was labeling the sample for testing.
Seems simple enough, right? Harrison was one of the players linked to HGH in the Al Jazeera America story that also implicated Broncos QB Peyton Manning. Harrison also took the Manning route and emphatically denied any links to the Indiana clinic, or the story in question. Via TribLive…
“They never supplied me with anything,” Harrison said after the Steelers’ 20-17 loss to the Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium. “I never took steroids. Point, blank, period. End of discussion.”
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“It’s disappointing,” Harrison said of the report, “because now, all the work I’ve put in, ya’ll are going to say, ‘you know what (maybe he uses).’ But the ones that know me, they know.”
Everything in life is about timing, and the NFL is the king of timing – no matter how awkward it might be.