Albert Breer of the Boston Herald and Mike Reiss of The Boston Globe have reported in their blogs that New England Patriots safety Rodney Harrison will speak to the media via conference call. The call was scheduled for 9:30 p.m., but Reiss posted at 9:40 that the call had yet to begin.
Update [2007-8-31 22:8:47 by tommasse]:
Here is The Globe's Christopher Gasper's transcript of Harrison's statement to the media. Meanwhile, Reiss notes that Harrison took no questions during the call.
"This is Rodney Harrison. I'm basically here to let you all know that tomorrow the commissioner will announce that I've been suspended by the NFL for violating the league policy on banned substances. That suspension will be four games. I want to make it clear that not once did I ever use steroids. I did admit to the commissioner that I did in fact use a banned substance. My purpose was never to gain a competitive edge. Rather, my use was solely for accelerating the healing process of injuries I sustained while playing football.
"I haven't made excuses nor will I make excuses. I made a mistake and I'm very sorry for that. I understand that I'm a role model to high school to college, to young kids. I don't condone my decision, my behavior. I'm very, very embarrassed by it. I'm disappointed in myself and to any young person, any high schooler, any college athlete I sent the wrong message with my actions. And I would ask and I would want to be the example for them to never jeopardize what they believe in and never jeopardize their health. And they always have to love themselves."
Harrison also said he wanted to apologize to the Patriots organization and its fans.