They were jilted at the proverbial alter by Brett Favre last week. The starting quarterback injured his knee in their second training camp practice.
There is good news for the Minnesota Vikings, though. The Williams Wall -- defensive tackles Kevin and Pat -- should be available for the entire 2009 season without interruption.
Wednesday, a Hennepin County (Minn.) District Court judge agreed to hold off on a trial in the Williamses' suit against the NFL, as both sides await a ruling in federal court. The pair -- not related -- sued the league after being issued four-game suspensions for use of a banned substance. The players contend the substance was not listed as an ingredient, and they say they did not knowingly inject a banned diuretic.The ruling basically ensures that any trial in this case will not take place until after the regular season ends in January 2010. After a Wednesday morning practice at Vikings training camp, Pat Williams commented on the matter.
"I just want it to be over. If they're going to suspend me, they'll suspend me. If they ain't, they ain't. I'm just tired of it dragging and keeping going because you don't want to keep it over your head, your family's head, your teammate's head, your coach's head, your owner's head. It's just something everybody has to worry about."While he won't get his wish for a quick solution, the fact they don't have to worry about a trial during the season should be a tremendous boost for the Williams Wall, as well as the Vikings as a whole.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-07-2009 @ 2:07PM
Leftyfixit said...
Just let them play football. The vikings have been in the news enough. Let's just enjoy the season and leave the drama in the locker room.
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8-08-2009 @ 10:25PM
kcgames20 said...
The NFL should stick to their guns on this one and suspend them...
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8-11-2009 @ 1:08PM
ANTON said...
No, the NFL is completely wrong in this case. Both players did nothing wrong, in fact they did everything right and Goddell wants to suspend them anyway. League officials knew a supplement called StarCaps contained a banned diuretic back in 2006 and did not specifically notify players or the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, so neither player could have known. When tested, the Williamses had no trace of steroids in their systems. In court last week, attorneys for the union and the Williamses argued that new evidence shows a hotline for players to get information on such issues gave out false information about the supplement, and told players it was not banned. So again, both players called the NFL hotline and was given false information even though the NFL knew since 2006 that the drug the players took was missing the banned ingredient. How can the NFL even consider punishment under these circumstances? The followed the rules to the letter. Besides, a 4 game suspension for this while S. Holmes only got a one game suspension for an illegal drug marijuana. Not a good message to send to young upcoming players, do illegal drugs you will get less time suspended.
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8-11-2009 @ 1:15PM
ANTON said...
Come on kcgames20, if this were you and where you work was trying to suspend you without pay even though you did nothing wrong would you give in and take the suspension? Would you want your employer to "stick to their gins" even though you called the hotline and was told it was legal? Even though the banned ingredient was not listed, even though your employer knew it was not listed?
Tell me you would not fight it, no one should give in when they are right.
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