Pat And Kevin Williams To Be Suspended For Being Members Of The Minnesota Vikings
by Christopher Gates on Apr 28, 2011 2:01 PM CDT
in Minnesota Vikings
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PrintWell, it looks like Roger Goodell will finally, after all this time, be able to enforce the National Football League's substance abuse policy in the random and arbitrary manner that he wishes.
Access Vikings is reporting that the Minnesota Supreme Court has refused to hear Pat Williams' appeal of the StarCaps case, which means all legal action has pretty much come to an end, and so he, along with Kevin Williams, will be suspended for the first four games of the 2011 NFL season for having tested positive for bumetanide.
In a related story, the following players still tested positive for bumetanide as a result of taking StarCaps, and have still faced neither fine nor suspension, nor so much as a slap on the wrist.
Nate Clements
Damien Woody
Vernon Carey
Damion McIntosh
Jonathan Smith
Damion Shelton
Patrick Pass
And there still isn't one S.O.B. out there that has even bothered to attempt an intelligent explanation as to why.
Who knows. . .maybe someday the Minnesota Vikings will reach that elite stratosphere where their players can get away with things and not have to worry about being held accountable or anything like that. The NFL has made clear, however, that they are not a part of that stratosphere right now.
So go ahead, National Football League. . .withhold whatever information you'd like from your players and pray like hell that nothing happens. It seems that it's working out well for you so far.
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In before the
“But Chris…you just think the NFL is out to get the Vikes for no good reason you homer” crowd.
You make a pretty valid point sir. I implore anyone to explain how the above mentioned players were caught with the exact same substance yet nothing came of it. As per Cartman-" Will you take me to the make up store? I at least like to feel pretty before you F*%k me like that".
by Jepp The Viking on Apr 28, 2011 2:05 PM CDT reply actions
Well, Jepp
I’ve been asking that same question for three years.
Ain’t nobody bothered to give me an intelligent answer to the question thus far, and I have a sneaking suspicion that ain’t nobody gonna be able to give me an intelligent answer now, either.
So yeah. . .anyone out there that thinks Pat and Kevin Williams getting suspended is some sort of wonderful thing. . .please, feel free to get bent.
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by Christopher Gates on Apr 28, 2011 2:11 PM CDT up reply actions
it seems to me
that a discrimination lawsuit is in order. how can you suspend some players and not other for the same thing.
Agreed!
But, as per my post below, it seems to me that this whole debacle should be ripe with lawsuits against the NFL, but somehow they’re immune. I don’t get it. Even the Williams’ court case was based off of a weird technicality on whether or not the NFL had the right to enforce their drug policy across state lines… I mean, in theory, I’m actually OK with the NFL retaining that right. It’s the various other ridiculous issues that they are so totally in the wrong in- again, namely, the arbitrary use of suspensions as well as the fact that they withheld the knowledge. If the NFL wants to say “you’re responsible for what you put into your bodies, we’re not going to independtly test every single supplement on the market for you”, that’s FINE. And if the NFL believes that the “I swear, I didn’t know there was >insert banned substance here< in that!” argument can be taken too far- that’s fine too. Heck, a player could use that argument when they inject themselves with steroids- they could just claim that “oh, my trainer gave it to me and I didn’t ask cuz I trusted him”, which is of course asinine. BUT, if the NFL becomes aware of a banned substance… how in the world are they allowed to keep that to themselves? And of course, as has been said here repeatedly, how in the world is the NFL allowed to decide that certain players CAN use the “I didn’t know” argument, and others cannot?
My head is spinning.
Ah, the failed attempt at returning Moss home. It was like '98 and '09 were about to make sweet, sweet love and give us a glorious '10 child.
www.dailynorseman.com- THE place for true Viking fanatics.
Ugh.
I just don’t have the time to give this the proper amount of vitriol with the draft coming up tonight. But holy hell do I hate the NFL more and more with each passing day.
Proud contributor to Daily Norseman and SB Nation Minnesota
by Eric J. Thompson on Apr 28, 2011 2:11 PM CDT reply actions
Is this bad?
No, I don’t mean “Is the Williamses getting suspended bad”, “Is Rodger Goodell bad”, “Is this rampant BS bad”. I mean the following thought that floated through my head:
I, in a twisted, and kinda ‘not really’ way, almost wished that something had happened to someone who had taken StarCaps in the NFL. Aside from the fact that it is a banned substance… it’s ALSO DANGEROUS. Now, of course, I didn’t want to hear about anyone, Viking or not, actually facing irreperable damage to their body or having their health genuinely at risk- but, what if someone had had to spend a night in the hospital? What if some of the possible negative side effects of this banned substance that the NFL KNEW ABOUT had actually popped up in one of the players? What would have happened then? The NFL would have been caught withholding information, information not that just could result in (apparently arbitrary) suspensions, but information that could ACTUALLY HURT YOU.
How on G-ds green earth has the NFL gotten away with THAT? Isn’t there some sort of legal action that could be in order? Not just from Will Smith or the Williamses- I wouldn’t blame Kevin or Pat one iota if they’re just fried at this point and are done with all this. (After all, Kevin already was.) But what about any of these other players who were taking StarCaps and putting their bodies at risk thanks to a substance that was not only hidden from the knowledge by StarCaps, but by the very NFL? Of course, I’m sure they’re all just saying “phew” right now in regards to having avoided suspension, and I’m sure that they have absolutely no intention of bringing their own court case and incurring Goodell’s “shotgun blast in the dark” policy of enforcing rules.
But seriously, how has the NFL escaped that? If I had, say, been knowlingly allowing fighters in my old gym to take a protein shake that contained something that was potentially harmful, and withheld that knowledge, I would presume that I would be liable for a lawsuit. Of course, “The Central Florida Martial Arts Academy” certainly didn’t equal “The National Football League”- just look at how the Seahawks recently flaunted the order to lift the lockout. Pretty sure I couldn’t have gotten away with that.
But I would like for someone to explain THAT one to me.
Ah, the failed attempt at returning Moss home. It was like '98 and '09 were about to make sweet, sweet love and give us a glorious '10 child.
www.dailynorseman.com- THE place for true Viking fanatics.
To put it bluntly
What if some of the possible negative side effects of this banned substance that the NFL KNEW ABOUT had actually popped up in one of the players? What would have happened then?
If it were a member of the Minnesota Vikings, the league wouldn’t give the proverbial two pieces of fecal matter.
It would have to be a member of one of the NFL’s “important” teams in order for any serious action to be taken.
SBNation Minnesota - For the greatest sports fans in the world.
The Daily Norseman - The greatest Vikings' site on the Internet!
by Christopher Gates on Apr 28, 2011 2:34 PM CDT up reply actions
StarCaps Gate was one of the first Vikings stories I wrote
I never would have thought of myself as a sports writer, but I was just so pissed about the ridiculous arbitrary way the whole incident was handled that I gave it a shot. Even years later, it still pisses me off. From what I had read, a doctor in charge of the testing, realizing that these players were being roofied by StarCaps, was not recommending players for punishment when they tested positive for bumetanide after taking StarCaps. Higher ups at the NFL, upon finding out what that doctor was doing, slapped him around (probably figuratively) and ordered him to recommend players for punishment when they tested positive for bumetanide after taking StarCaps. Pat and Kevin Williams suffered some really crap timing.
Life being what it is, one dreams of revenge.
- Paul Gauguin
If the NFL
wanted to get on said doctor’s case about keeping that stuff secret- fine. The fact that they then did NOT WARN anyone about it is what gets me going.
Ah, the failed attempt at returning Moss home. It was like '98 and '09 were about to make sweet, sweet love and give us a glorious '10 child.
www.dailynorseman.com- THE place for true Viking fanatics.
Oh hell yeah.
They might not have done anything legally wrong in sitting on the information that StarCaps, despite not listing the ingredient any where on the label, contained a therapeutic level of bumetanide, it is the height of sleezy and unethical for the NFL not to have alerted a government regulatory agency about their findings. Regardless of what their policy is for their players, they failed the general public by not making those findings known. The extent of their efforts to inform players that StarCaps was harmful and contained a therapeutic level of a medication used to congestive heart failure was to tell players they were not allowed to endorse StarCaps—that was it. There are all sorts of other people out in the world who were taking StarCaps to lose weight and they could have suffered health problems from the bumetanide in StarCaps, but the NFL couldn’t be bothered to report what they knew. Any way I look at it, it still looks sleezy and shameful.
Life being what it is, one dreams of revenge.
- Paul Gauguin
Goodell is a bitch!
That dictator deserves anything, and everything bad that happens to him.
I don’t exactly believe in karma, but if karma is real, then Goodell has some bad juju headed his way….and deservedly so!
Goodell has no protocol for how he distributes punishment, and that makes it very hard for me to respect him as a man.
I’m all for being strict, as long as he’s being strict with everybody.
Goodell allowing those other guys to go free is absolute BS.
The NFL needs to have a policy, and they need to follow that policy. They can’t just make the rules up as they go.
Show some professionalism for a change, Goodell.
Riddle me this...
…with no CBA and with the NFL at extreme risk of running afoul of anti-trust laws, how does the NFL enforce anything at this point? Wouldn’t it be left up to the Vikings on what to do with Kevin Williams? It’s possible that the upcoming season will be played without a CBA. If so, I doubt that the NFL can do much to Pat and Kevin.
And if a CBA does get done, I wouldn’t be totally shocked if the group formerly known as the Players Union rallied against the absurdity of the NFL’s position and added language to the effect that Pat and Kevin would get off with a stern warning instead of suspensions. I know that’s unlikely when bigger issues are being debated, but as I said, I wouldn’t be shocked to see the Players’ representations (and players) make an issue out of it. It’s a throw away issue for the NFL owners anyway.
That has been discussed
as a potential bargaining tool for the NFLPA. That said, I have no clue how the lack of a CBA will affect this- but, there is in fact the reality that we’re currently going to be playing under the old rules, in which yes, the NFL can enforce this.
Ah, the failed attempt at returning Moss home. It was like '98 and '09 were about to make sweet, sweet love and give us a glorious '10 child.
www.dailynorseman.com- THE place for true Viking fanatics.
But as the great Pharaoh Ramses.......
is now in control of the NFL, we, the fans whom are enslaved in bondage have seen many of times, the the Almighty Pharaoh has the power over minions to weild it in any fashion he see forth………..
So let it be written, so let if be done……
Of course, this is from the same guy who said he WASN’T going to make any decision until a new C.B.A. was done and it was back to business as usual. So, for all the “chaos” the NFL is in, he has the frame of mind to renege on what he stated earlier and to go ahead with the suspensions even without a new C.B.A. and while appealing the end the lockout ruling from a few days ago.
New coach, new coaching staff, new starting QB. All we need now is a new stadium and all will be well in 2011.
by VikesFaninNM on Apr 28, 2011 3:29 PM CDT up reply actions
A league of his own, where reward is the absence of punishment.
“I hear you”??? Who is this guy’s speech writer?
Go down, Moses, way down in Egypt’s land;
Tell old Pharaoh to let my people go!
Probably a stupid question as I excel in those
but would this in any way, shape or form change who Spielman might consider taking in one of the later rounds? I mean that’s going to make the d-line pretty precarious in those first four games.
Not a stupid question at all
but I do doubt it. Four games is pretty small in the grand scheme of things. It’s one thing when Sydney Rice is going to miss 3/4s of a season, a season where you need a wideout to win the Super Bowl, so you make a big superstar trade for Randy Moss… oh wait… that didn’t work out at all…
Anyways, again, I doubt it. The draft is meant for long-term planning, even with players who can make an immediate impact. Just drafting because you need to patch a hole for four games goes against that.
Ah, the failed attempt at returning Moss home. It was like '98 and '09 were about to make sweet, sweet love and give us a glorious '10 child.
www.dailynorseman.com- THE place for true Viking fanatics.
The supposed reasoning...
…(and still a stupid one) as to why K and P will be suspended and the rest won’t is because Dr. Lombardo was told to stop pardoning players for taking StarCaps. I’m not exactly sure, but I would assume that the first two players who tested positive after this memo arrived on the Doc’s desk were the Williams duo.
That doesn’t absolve the NFL for not letting the players know that StarCaps were banned, which is the major problem I have with all of this.
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