NFL files appeal over suspensions

Source: Agencies  |   2008-12-24  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

THE NFL wants an appeals court to reconsider a federal judge's order that blocked the suspensions of five players for violating the league's anti-doping policy, according to court documents filed Monday in US District Court in Minnesota.

Attorneys for the top-flight American football league filed notice they were asking the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals to take up the issue after US District Judge Paul Magnuson in St. Paul, Minnesota, earlier this month cleared the way for Kevin Williams and Pat Williams of the Minnesota Vikings, and Charles Grant, Deuce McAllister and Will Smith of the New Orleans Saints to continue playing.

Magnuson had said he needed more time to consider the dispute between the NFL and the NFL Players Association.

The NFL also asked that discovery proceedings before Magnuson be put off until the 8th Circuit Court makes a decision on the league's appeal.

The players were each suspended for four games after testing positive for a banned diuretic - bumetanide - in the dietary supplement StarCaps.

Bumetanide is on the list of banned substances because it can be used as a masking agent for steroids. Diuretics are also used to quickly shed weight. The StarCaps label didn't list the diuretic as an ingredient, and the players' union had argued the NFL didn't properly inform players about what it knew about StarCaps.

The NFL's attorneys have argued that claim, and others, had been considered and rejected in a process set out by the league's collective bargaining agreement.

Magnuson's initial ruling on December 5, and another ruling on December 11, allowed the players to rejoin their teams for the rest of the season. Barring a quick reversal by the appeals court, it's likely at least Kevin Williams would play for the Vikings if the team makes the playoffs. Pat Williams is out with a broken bone in his right shoulder. He missed Sunday's loss to the Atlanta Falcons and will also sit out when the Vikings play the New York Giants this Sunday.

Pat Williams hopes to return to his team for the first potential playoff game in January. The Saints have been eliminated from the playoffs.