quote:

The National Football League lost the December battle, but still won the war.

On Friday, Judge Paul Magnuson entered judgment in favor of the league on the claims made by the NFL Players Association on behalf of Vikings defensive tackles Kevin and Pat Williams, Saints defensive ends Charles Grant and Will Smith, and free-agent running back Deuce McAllister.

.. The important thing to remember for now is that Kevin and Pat Williams will be suspended by the NFL for the first four games of the 2009 season. The only thing that could stop the suspensions at this point would be a ruling by an appeals court preventing the league from implementing the suspensions pending review of Judge Magnuson’s decision.

from Profootball Talk

I know this was expected. That's a big blow to their D. I'd assume they still have to hold roster sports for them?

First 4 weeks are vs

Browns
Lions
49ers
Packers.

Beautiful.

It would be great to see Grant and Jackson go for about 150 combined on the ground that night as we control the ball for about 40 minutes.

And the shots of AP and Favre standing helplessly on the sideline as we keep the chains moving all night will be priceless.

Vikes fans get to start early on revving up their excuse-o-matic

quote:

And the shots of AP and Favre standing helplessly on the sideline as we keep the chains moving all night will be priceless.

quote:

Originally posted by CAPackfan:
Vikes fans get to start early on revving up their excuse-o-matic

From the same place that sells the Whizz-in-ator.

quote:

Originally posted by Coach:
And the shots of AP and Favre standing helplessly on the sideline as we keep the chains moving all night will be priceless.

I would rather see the Packers do that with the Williams boys on the field......No Excuses then.

That is good news, but I'm not sure how much it'll matter looking at their first three opponents. We'll see.

Doesn't matter. The Vikings are just a QB away from going 19-0 and winning each game by 1000 points including the Super Bowl! YEaahhhh!!!!!

You nailed it Rusty, but their next great quarterback probably isn't even born yet. Look how many decades it took the Bears to roll the dice on paying the price for what they hope is a real QB.

Out of those four games the Vikings will still win three without the Williams boys,what an ez schedule they have to start out with except for the Packers.

This is sad news. I prefer beating the Queens at full strength.

The 40Whiners will be tougher than you think. Coach Mike will have them amped up.

Niners will spank the Vikes, as will the Packers.

Tend to agree with YA. 49er's D will be better and they did draft some kid named Crabtree. Queens can whine all they want. All the Williams boys did is put off the inevitable. Nice way to start the 2009 season

The Williams' look pretty smart now eh, they got to play during the Vikes big playoff push last year and, ah, well....

The only thing ruled on, was the NFL's Collective Bargaining Agreement, which says the NFL can suspend players for the infraction. The Federal judge sent back other parts of the case to the state level, where the case favors Kevin in Pat. The CBA does not trump Minnesota law, which blocks employers from punishing players for use of legal products off site.(which starcaps was). Unfortunately most articles coming out now, are from writers who haven't read the entire opinion. There is still an injunction, and they have not been suspended. The original suit was filed in Minnesota State court, and that is where the injunction was issued.

What will be interesting is...if the Williams prevail in State court, can they be suspended for games outside of MN. IF they prevail, would the NFL still suspend the 3 New Orleans playes, but not the Williams'.

Agree, the title of this thread should be changed, it's total BS at this point. Like saying you're on the 30 yard line so you WILL come away with points.

quote:

Originally posted by Swany:
I would rather see the Packers do that with the Williams boys on the field......No Excuses then.

Who gives a sh*t. I hope they lose everyone and we beat them 150 to nothing.

If we can only get the other 20 players suspended, then we'd have something. How about another Love boat fiassco? I'll bet no one in Minnestoa remembers it.

This is stupid. What if some state decided to legalize steroids? Rules should be the same for all teams, in all states.

If they are allowed to play in MN then the NFL can just come back and say "OK you are suspended for @CLE, @DET, @STL and @PIT.

I'm still confused as to how only 5 people tested positive for it. If say 100+ players had tested positive there'd be a lot more validity to this. Who's to say they didn't just make it up and used some other masking agent and conveniently said it was Starcaps?

I particularly liked this nugget from the article:

quote:

As further explained by Judge Magnuson, the law prohibits employers from imposing discipline based on a single positive test.

If that's the case all Viking players should start roiding up, they get busted once then back off but until then it's fair game.

Also, keep it classy Florio:

quote:

for example, a closet Packers fan working beverage detail had slipped a banned substance into their Pepsi at a Minneapolis restaurant.

They didn't get busted for steroids. It was a diuretic for weight loss, that could also possibly block detection of steroids. There is no guarantee that bumetanide will block all detection from "roiding up". So I don't think this is an invitation to start taking drugs illegally. Starcaps was a legal supplement. It was not illegally obtained or administered. The other claim was that you cannot punish an employee for taking a legal product, off company site. Unprescribed steroids are illegal...anywhere. Roiding up, pretty much nulifies that potential claim.

You simply cannot collectively bargain away a workers state rights. This is a NFL and NFLPA problem. IF the Williams prevail, then the NFL and NFLPA will simply have to find language that will satisfy all states labor laws. Other companies do it that have a presence in multiple states. It shouldn't be that difficult.

The main issue is that the DSHEA rules are so vague ( and lame) that the manufacturers of Star Caps cannot tell you for certain what is or isn't in their product at any given moment.

Were they regulated like a pharmaceutical, then this never happens

So, the NFL and the NFLPA set up the rules such that they tell the players "buyer beware" and don't come crying to us if in fact the supplements are contaminated

We told you that they are contaminated, that if you take them you are responsible for any problems that arise from that consumption.

You cannot trust the ingredients in supplements and it is you who is taking the risk by ingesting them.

Basically, the Williams screwed- up despite repeated warnings, printed memos, annual reminders, a hotline , letters to agents and every known media source available.

They can claim innocence, but the CBA doesn't protect for claimed ignorance, specifically because there have been so many problems in the past.

The collectively bargained away the individual state rights as a condition of their employment in the NFL.

Don't like it, try another sport.

I hear you can get away with this kind of crap in Manny Ball. Can the Williams Sisters hit a hanging slider?

Legalize it!

If they keep fighting this - 2 possible outcomes

1. It may delay the suspension to later in the season

2. They may get out of it.

--------

This is a big risk/reward scenario if they appeal they may skate - they may also transfer the suspension to a much tougher group of opponents late in the season.