Editor's Note: This column first appeared as a "Sports Talk" blog entry online at www.themonroetimes.com.
The one time tough-minded NFL anti-doping and substance abuse policy is now a joke.
It's not just because I'm a Bears fan longing for a competitive edge, hoping the Vikings' defensive tackles Kevin Williams and Pat Williams face four-game suspensions for testing positive for a banned diuretic, bumetanide, in the dietary supplement StarCaps during training camp.
U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson extended his preliminary injunction last week against the NFL's suspension of five players for violating the league's anti-doping policy. The move blocked the suspensions and paved the way for the players to play the rest of the season. It's an embarrassment and a slap in the face of the NFL Players Union for reneging on an anti-doping policy that has stressed zero tolerance.
The union argued the NFL didn't properly inform players about what it knew about StarCaps. The StarCaps label didn't list the diuretic as an ingredient. It's not the first time an NFL player has been suspended, crying foul and unknowingly taking a banned susbstance.
Former Bear Jim Miller was the first quarterback suspended in 1999 for taking a dietary supplement containing an anabolic steroid. Former New York Jets defensive tackle Jason Ferguson also was suspended for four games in 1999 in a case eerily similar to this year's. Ferguson had been taking an over-the-counter weight-reducing product that contained a banned substance.
Former Bears fullback Daimon Shelton in 2001 had a positive drug test and was suspended four games for taking an over-the-counter supplement as a fat burner, which contained steroids. For every player who claimed they didn't know the supplement contained steroids, their defense carried no weight and the late NFL Union Executive Director Gene Upshaw followed suit with suspensions, citing the league's zero tolerance policy and a need to maintain a competitive playing field.
Magnuson, a U.S. District judge in Minneapolis, hears appeals to the collective bargaining agreement. Allowing an injunction and blocking the suspensions by the NFL sets a bad precedent. NFL players who make multi-million contracts should be responsible for what they put in their bodies. If they question a supplement or diuretic, making a phone call to a trainer or the league office to get a subscription should be the standard.
I don't necessarily believe the Willamses, who weigh a combined 700 pounds, were taking StarCaps as a masking agent for steroids. Diuretics also are used to quickly shed weight.
The problem is the NFL's anti-doping policy has been consistent in suspending players for taking supplements, steroids and other drugs. This now opens up a Pandora's box to any other diuretic or supplement challenges.
Now any time an NFL player takes a diuretic or supplement banned by the NFL, a built-in defense and cop-out is available. The NFL, like the Olympic Committee, has prided itself on a stringent anti-doping program.
Now, the Vikings' Pat Willaims will be out two to six weeks with a strained shoulder and will miss the final two regular-season games. Call it bad karma.
Magnuson urged both sides to negotiate a solution. If they can't, he will block the suspensions with an ongoing injunction until a full evidentiary hearing on the case, which likely would come after the Super Bowl. The two sides have until Dec. 22 to negotiate a proposed schedule for filing papers ahead of that hearing, otherwise the judge will schedule it himself.
The only way out of this mess, and to reverse a legal curse, is for the Vikings to lose their last two games and for Da Bears to win the NFC North and have the Vikings sit home for the playoffs.
- Mark Nesbitt is the sports writer for the Monroe Times and can be reached at mnesbitt@themonroetimes.com
The one time tough-minded NFL anti-doping and substance abuse policy is now a joke.
It's not just because I'm a Bears fan longing for a competitive edge, hoping the Vikings' defensive tackles Kevin Williams and Pat Williams face four-game suspensions for testing positive for a banned diuretic, bumetanide, in the dietary supplement StarCaps during training camp.
U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson extended his preliminary injunction last week against the NFL's suspension of five players for violating the league's anti-doping policy. The move blocked the suspensions and paved the way for the players to play the rest of the season. It's an embarrassment and a slap in the face of the NFL Players Union for reneging on an anti-doping policy that has stressed zero tolerance.
The union argued the NFL didn't properly inform players about what it knew about StarCaps. The StarCaps label didn't list the diuretic as an ingredient. It's not the first time an NFL player has been suspended, crying foul and unknowingly taking a banned susbstance.
Former Bear Jim Miller was the first quarterback suspended in 1999 for taking a dietary supplement containing an anabolic steroid. Former New York Jets defensive tackle Jason Ferguson also was suspended for four games in 1999 in a case eerily similar to this year's. Ferguson had been taking an over-the-counter weight-reducing product that contained a banned substance.
Former Bears fullback Daimon Shelton in 2001 had a positive drug test and was suspended four games for taking an over-the-counter supplement as a fat burner, which contained steroids. For every player who claimed they didn't know the supplement contained steroids, their defense carried no weight and the late NFL Union Executive Director Gene Upshaw followed suit with suspensions, citing the league's zero tolerance policy and a need to maintain a competitive playing field.
Magnuson, a U.S. District judge in Minneapolis, hears appeals to the collective bargaining agreement. Allowing an injunction and blocking the suspensions by the NFL sets a bad precedent. NFL players who make multi-million contracts should be responsible for what they put in their bodies. If they question a supplement or diuretic, making a phone call to a trainer or the league office to get a subscription should be the standard.
I don't necessarily believe the Willamses, who weigh a combined 700 pounds, were taking StarCaps as a masking agent for steroids. Diuretics also are used to quickly shed weight.
The problem is the NFL's anti-doping policy has been consistent in suspending players for taking supplements, steroids and other drugs. This now opens up a Pandora's box to any other diuretic or supplement challenges.
Now any time an NFL player takes a diuretic or supplement banned by the NFL, a built-in defense and cop-out is available. The NFL, like the Olympic Committee, has prided itself on a stringent anti-doping program.
Now, the Vikings' Pat Willaims will be out two to six weeks with a strained shoulder and will miss the final two regular-season games. Call it bad karma.
Magnuson urged both sides to negotiate a solution. If they can't, he will block the suspensions with an ongoing injunction until a full evidentiary hearing on the case, which likely would come after the Super Bowl. The two sides have until Dec. 22 to negotiate a proposed schedule for filing papers ahead of that hearing, otherwise the judge will schedule it himself.
The only way out of this mess, and to reverse a legal curse, is for the Vikings to lose their last two games and for Da Bears to win the NFC North and have the Vikings sit home for the playoffs.
- Mark Nesbitt is the sports writer for the Monroe Times and can be reached at mnesbitt@themonroetimes.com
