Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz

USA TODAY Sports

James Harrison acquiesced to the NFL's demand for an interview in its ongoing performance-enhancing drug probe, but the Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker isn't backing down from the league.

After agreeing to make himself available to the NFL on Aug. 30 at the Steelers' facility, Harrison called NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell a "crook" and advocated the idea that the interview should be broadcast live.

"Whatever evidence they might have or reasoning for questioning for me is out of my control, I don't know," Harrison said Thursday after the Steelers' 17-0 preseason loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. "I wouldn't have a problem with it being filmed live. I've been prosecuted and persecuted publicly in the media by them for something I didn't do, so I don't see why we couldn't have the media there and do a live interview. They can ask the questions and I can answer them, and y'all can see whatever evidence it is they say they got."

Players targeted in NFL's PED probe agree to interviews

Harrison's proposed Aug. 30 date is five days after the deadline the NFL gave four active players to conduct interviews into the probe on allegations made in the Al Jazeera America documentary The Dark Side. He, along with Green Bay Packers linebackers Clay Matthews and Julius Peppers and free agent linebacker Mike Neal, had maintained they did not need to submit to in-person interviews because Charlie Sly, the former anti-aging clinic intern featured in the movie, later recanted his hidden-camera claims.

But the NFL said in a letter first obtained by USA TODAY Sports on Monday that the players would face suspension for conduct detrimental if they did not agree to the interviews. Matthews and Peppers also agreed Thursday to interviews, while Neal has yet to do so, a person with knowledge of the situation told USA TODAY Sports. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.

In a letter from NFL Players Association counsel Heather McPhee to NFL senior vice president of labor policy Adolpho Birch, Harrison insisted on only answering questions about Sly's remarks about him. The terms Harrison presented might not meet the NFL's standard for cooperation.

"If it goes to conduct detrimental, it leans to the hands of that crook — I mean Roger Goodell — and he can do whatever he wants," Harrison said. "That's just the collective bargaining agreement that the players signed."

Follow Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz on Twitter @MikeMSchwartz.