The Minnesota Vikings defensive tackles Kevin Williams and Pat Williams cannot be suspended this year by the NFL for violating the league’s anti-doping policy…for now.  The two Williams, who are unrelated, both tested positive for a banned substance in the 2008 training camp.  The NFL wants to suspend them both four games.  The two both tested positive for the diuretic bumetanide, which is on the league’s banned substance list.  The bumetanide got into their system through an over-the-counter weight loss supplement called StarCaps.

The problem is that StarCaps did not list the banned substance, bumetanide, in its ingredients and the players say that they did not know the banned substance was in the product.  After the NFL issued their four game suspensions, the Vikings tackles sued the NFL in Minnesota state court.  According to Minnesota state law an employer must give an employee the opportunity to explain their positive drug test, which the NFL did not do.  It went to federal court after that, and for the time being both Williamses will not be suspended.

I think this is a terrible ruling, as every professional athlete should know exactly what they are putting in their body no matter what.  The NFL even issued a warning about products like StarCaps in 2006, telling players that there are many more ingredients in a lot of those over-the-counter supplements then they are required to list.  This is great news for Vikings fans though, as the Williams combo are great run stoppers and will be able to plug up holes all season long.