Vikings duo wins restraining order on suspensions

Dec 4, 2008 - 1:47 AM MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) -- Minnesota Vikings tackles Pat Williams and Kevin Williams were granted a temporary restraining order Wednesday night, blocking their four-game suspensions handed down by the NFL one day earlier.

The Williamses were among six players suspended by the NFL on Tuesday for testing positive for a drug on the league's list of banned substances are not taking the matter lying down.

Attorneys for the Vikings' Pro Bowl tackles won a temporary reprieve in Hennepin County District Court Wednesday evening, a spokesman for the court confirmed to PA SportsTicker.

However, Judge Gary Larson will have the parties back in court Thursday to hear more extensive arguments on the matter.

The NFL will challenge the ruling, said spokesman Greg Aiello, noting that the NFL policy on steroids and related substances was collectively bargained between the league and the NFL Players Association.

"The program and the Collective Bargaining Agreement expressly bar precisely this kind of lawsuit," Aiello said in an e-mail to PA SportsTicker. "All of the steroid program's rules and procedures are established in agreement with the players' union. In other words, the players have agreed to the rules and the procedures that they are now challenging.

"There is no merit to this lawsuit and we will promptly seek to have the order reversed."

Attorneys for the Williamses argued that league officials were aware that StarCaps, a product used by the players, contained the banned substance bumetanide but failed to share that information with players.

Bumetanide is a diuretic which can mask the presence of other substances, including steroids.

Also receiving four-game suspensions Tuesday were a trio of players with the New Orleans Saints - running back Deuce McAllister and defensive ends Will Smith and Charles Grant - and center Bryan Pittman of the Houston Texans.

Defensive tackle Grady Jackson of the Atlanta Falcons also faces a four-game suspension but the Falcons said his appeal has been deferred pending addition information requested by NFL Chief Counsel Jeff Pash.

David Cornwell, a Washington-based attorney who represented the Saints players during their appeals, argued that Dr. John Lombardo, the administrator of the NFL's policy regarding anabolic steroids and related substances, was aware that StarCaps contained Bumetanide but did not share the information with NFL players, fearing that players who tested positive for the drug would claim they took StarCaps even if it were not true.

The league, however, seemed to leave little wiggle room for such an argument in spelling out its policy to the players in Tuesday's statement announcing the players' suspensions.

"You and you alone are responsible for what goes into your body," the policy read. "Claiming that you used only legally available nutritional supplements will not help you in an appeal. ? Even if they are bought over-the-counter from a known establishment, there is currently no way to be sure that they contain the ingredients listed on the packaging or have not been tainted with prohibited substances.

"If you take these products, you do so AT YOUR OWN RISK!"

The suspensions were a severe blow to the NFC North-leading Vikings, who lost the heart of their interior line with the suspensions of the Williamses, who are both Pro Bowlers.

"We're just proceeding right now as if they (the Williamses) won't (play) because that's the facts right now," Vikings coach Brad Childress said earlier Wednesday. "They've been suspended by the NFL, and we're going forward with that idea in mind."

The Saints, who are teetering on the edge of playoff elimination, also lose a pair of players with the expulsions of Smith and McAllister. Grant was placed on season-ending injured reserve last month.

With four games remaining, the suspensions effectively end the regular season for the players. However, if a player's team makes the postseason, he is eligible to return to the active roster on Monday, December 29.

During their appeals, the players attributed the positive tests for taking the weight-loss supplement StarCaps, which does not list Bumetanide as an ingredient.

The league addressed that argument in its statement Tuesday.

"With respect to the question of whether a specific warning should have been given regarding Star Caps, the policy does not set forth an obligation to issue specific warnings about specific products and no testimony suggests that the NFL and NFLPA have ever contemplated imposing such a requirement on Dr. Lombardo, who oversees the development of education materials on steroids," the statement read.

Citing other policies, the league noted that the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) does not issue specific warnings about specific supplements, nor are such warnings issued in other drug testing programs.

Atlanta's Jackson, in fact, has filed a class-action lawsuit against the Nikki Harrell's StarCaps diet pills - the manufacturer of the diuretic.

The company acknowledged the lawsuit in a message posted on its web site, StarCaps.com.

"We've received notice of a problem with an NFL player," the statement read. "We have referred the matter to our counsel and are taking all necessary steps to ensure that our customers receive product that is safe and effective. We have temporarily suspended shipping of StarCaps pending the results of our investigation."