Great news for Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints fans. Maybe.A federal judge has blocked the suspensions of five players, including Vikings Pro Bowl defensive tackles Pat and Kevin Williams. The five were banned for the last four games of the NFL regular season after testing positive for a banned diuretic over the summer and eventually having their appeals heard and denied.
The legal process started Wednesday, when the Williamses (not related) took their case to a district court in Minneapolis. There they convinced a judge to issue a temporary restraining order blocking the suspensions and allowing the two to return to practice.
Both tackles have returned to practice, and actually were at the Vikings' facility Friday instead of at the hearing over this latest legal action.
Thursday, the NFL Players' Association sued on behalf of the Williamses and the three affected Saints players, which include defensive linemen Charles Grant and Will Smith, along with running back Deuce McAllister.
The crux of the argument being made in court is that the players weren't informed of the banned substance. The NFL claims this was all handled in the players' appeals and those appeals were then denied.
Obviously, this is a win for the teams and players involved. However, is it really a win?
No one doubts the ability of the NFL's lawyers to win this case in the end. They have the money and the muscle to make that happen, and they appear to have the Collective Bargaining Agreement on their side, too.
So what if the players all play Sunday, and the suspensions are upheld in court sometime next week?
In a scenario that could be more damaging to the Vikings than the Saints (no offense, but the Vikings' playoff chances are more realistic at this point), the suspensions wouldn't be served before the regular season is over. If a team makes the playoffs, that means any suspended players would have to miss their team's playoff opener.
So while this legal victory is significant, it's not necessarily a victory for the teams. I'm sure the Vikings would rather miss the Williamses for Sunday's game against the 0-12 Detroit Lions than for a Wild Card game against, say, Atlanta.
But that's just me.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-06-2008 @ 10:03AM
Robert Anderson said...
I think it is an outrage that the NFL's doctor did not notify the
NFL players with a warning about the banned diuretic, bumetanide found in the product called Starcaps.. The NFL's
reason is that they didn't want to be sued by the manufacturer of Starcaps.. In my opinion, this is a weak position to take. I am a pharmacist and I know if they would have sent samples to a couple different independent labs to have the Starcaps product tested for this diuretic and found to contain it, all they would have to do is contact the FDA with the results. This drug is a prescription diuretic and if it is found in a OTC drug the FDA would have raided the manufacturer's production facility and confiscated all the Starcaps it found and made it illegal to sell. Therefore, I think the story line that the NFL didn't want to get sued is a weak and bogus excuse.. The NFL's doctor should have been more concerned with the NFL's player's health rather than a lawsuit.. To me, it is a travesty that they seem more concerned about catching players with a banned substance in their body when they had knowledge that could have saved the NFL bad publicity not to mention more concern about their players consuming banned substances when there was nothing on the Starcaps label that the product contained this diuretic which is in it self an illegal act. The NFL's position that it is up to the player to make sure he is not consuming a banned substance because it was in the contract is also absurd. Here is an example: suppose the player went to a restaurant and had a meal. Suppose the chef favored his home town team and decided to throw in a little banned substance in the opposing teams' meal. It would be an illegal act by the chef but how would the players know what they consumed was a banned substance... So does that mean all the players would have to cook their own meals. How can they do that if they are on the road.. THE NFL SHOULD HAVE LET THEIR PLAYERS KNOW ABOUT STARCAPS IF THEY HAD THE KNOWLEDGE IT CONTAINS A BANNED SUBSTANCE. TO NOT DO SO AFFECTS THE PLAYERS CAREER AND INCOME.
I think this is so totally unfair I may not want to renew my subscription to "The Sunday Ticket" next year... I hope the judge rules against the NFL on this one.. The NFL's position on this case is totally asinine...
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12-06-2008 @ 11:45AM
brian said...
Well, here we go--litigation time. What a surprise. I hope the courts are now ready for suits from NFL, NHL, NBA, NCAA, etc. every time a player is suspended. This judge just opened the door for every suit happy professional player.
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12-06-2008 @ 1:16PM
Mtn man said...
The NFL appears to be so concerned about the safety of the players, re: Allen, DE from the Vikings was fined twice for some supposed low hits plus all the flags we see every game to make sure no one gets hurt. OK, if the NFL is so concerned about the safety of the players, why did they not have Dr. Lombardo (or whoever) warn each & every player in the league about this substance the Williams took? It was an over the counter drug so how can it be illegal? Case in point: Let' s say you are an investigator for the NFL and you walk in a bar thats frequented by NFL players, whereas you see the barkeep slip a "mickey" to an out of town player from some other team, are you going to go after the barkeep for what he did , or, are you going to let it pass as the player should have known the barkeep did this now & than? The judge should throw this suspension down the drain!!
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