Well, 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.