GREEN BAY – Clay Matthews and Julius Peppers have been cleared by the NFL of any wrongdoing in the league's investigation into performance enhancing drugs.
The Packers' star outside linebackers were interviewed by the league last week in connection with an Al-Jazeera America media report from last winter that they had received and used PEDs.
Matthews and Peppers had vehemently denied any involvement in PEDs when the report came out, and they stood by those comments when they spoke to the media on the first day of training camp.
The NFL's announcement on Wednesday said the league "found no credible evidence" of the players being provided with or using PEDs. The league termed its investigation "comprehensive."
Al-Jazeera's primary source for the report had long since recanted what he told the media outlet, and future Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning was subsequently cleared shortly after his retirement.
Matthews, Peppers and Steelers linebacker James Harrison had been asked to submit to interviews with the league, but the NFL players' union did not initially comply due to the league's lack of evidence and the fear of setting a precedent for baseless investigations.
Following the NFL's threat of a suspension if the players did not submit to interviews, they agreed to talk.
A fourth player also interviewed after being named in the report, former Packers defender Mike Neal, was not mentioned in the NFL's announcement on Wednesday.
