NFL Plans to Interview Players Named in Al Jazeera America HGH Report

The Al Jazeera America investigation linking American athletes with human growth hormone, or HGH, has largely faded from memory for many sports fans, but that may not be the case much longer.

USA Today's Christine Brennan reported Wednesday the NFL will interview the four active players implicated, in addition to former Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning, about their connections to the investigation.   

"It's our expectation that we will interview the players involved over the next month or so," NFL spokesman Joe Lockhart said, per Brennan.

The four players are James Harrison, Clay Matthews, Mike Neal and Julius Peppers.

Lockhart added that the league is discussing with the NFL Players Association when to conduct the interviews.

In a December interview with ESPN's Lisa Salters, via ESPN.com, Manning denied he used HGH and was critical of Al Jazeera America and its primary source for the allegations against him, Charlie Sly:

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What hurts me the most about this, whoever this guy is, this slapstick trying to insinuate that in 2011, when more than less I had a broken neck -- I had four neck surgeries. ... It stings me whoever this guy is to insinuate that I cut corners, I broke NFL rules in order to get healthy. It's a joke. It's a freaking joke.

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Sly, an intern at the Guyer Institute in Indianapolis in 2011, recanted the claims he made to the outlet. In an undercover video in the report, he said Manning had HGH mailed to his house under the name of his wife, Ashley, and that Ashley and Peyton Manning visited the Guyer Institute for treatments, per ESPN.com.

Manning indicated he was thinking of pursuing legal action against the network, but Brennan reported that is unlikely to happen:

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A person familiar with Manning's strategy who was not authorized to speak publicly told USA TODAY Sports in a recent conversation that the former quarterback has decided after a dozen conference calls with attorneys that he doesn't want to spend the time and money necessary to file a lawsuit that would make public the personal records and private lives of both he and his wife Ashley.

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The story also named two MLB players, Washington Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman and Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard. Both Zimmerman and Howard filed defamation lawsuits against Al Jazeera in January.

Although Manning is recently retired, Brennan said the league could still look into his past if he plans to take a front office position with an NFL franchise.