Vikings Kevin and Pat Williams can play during appeal

By ROCHELLE OLSON, Star Tribune

Last update: July 10, 2009 - 12:00 AM

Minnesota Vikings Kevin and Pat Williams can play while the lawsuit over their claimed inadvertent use of a banned substance goes forward, and the NFL cannot step up testing of them during that time, Hennepin County District Judge Gary Larson said this morning in a 15-page ruling.

Larson also scheduled a hearing July 22 on the NFL's request to put the state court matter on hold pending the league's appeal of federal claims -- a process that could take months.

Lawyers for the two defensive linemen will ask for a speedy trial. "We want to proceed as quickly as we can," Peter Ginsberg of New York said. "We would like to get this resolved before the season starts."

The NFL wanted the Williamses, who are not related, to serve out their suspensions. Larson said the players would "suffer a significant loss of playing time" without the benefit of an order allowing them to play while the issues wend their way through the courts. Other courts "have found that loss of NFL playing time is sufficient to constitute irreparable harm," he wrote.

The NFL, however, will suffer little harm because the order "does not affect the general enforceability (of) its anti-doping policy," Larson wrote.

In a hearing last month, the NFL argued that a previous order by Larson allowing the two men to play was dissolved by the actions of U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson.

Magnuson sent some parts of the case back to Larson and threw out the rest. He also denied a request from the NFL Players Association to hold off on the suspensions of five players, including the Williamses, pending appeal.

The NFL is appealing that decision through the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Ginsberg wants to move ahead with a trial, which could nullify the appeal.

The players argue that Minnesota law gives employees an opportunity to explain use of a product innocently used but otherwise banned, but the NFL didn't allow the Williamses to explain their use of the over-the-counter supplement StarCaps, which was found to contain the banned diuretic bumetanide, which that can mask steroid use.

The NFL knew in 2006 that StarCaps contained the diuretic -- even though it wasn't on the label -- but never told the players.

The NFL maintains it has a well-known strict liability policy for substance abuse, so players are responsible for what they put in their bodies, and ignorance of taking a banned substance is no excuse.

Larson also told the NFL to back off "reasonable cause" testing of the two players, which allows the NFL to increase testing of players who have tested positive for banned substances.

Ginsberg argued the players were being tested almost every week by the NFL, whereas regular, random testing occurs about three times in the off season.

Judge Larson is not the Gary Larsen who played on the defensive line for the Vikings.

Rochelle Olson • 612-673-1747

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