Vikings' Williamses win legal reprieve ... for now

The Vikings spent Wednesday afternoon preparing to complete the regular season without Pat and Kevin Williams. But by Wednesday evening, the Pro Bowl tackles were back at Winter Park and hoping they will be allowed to play in Sunday's game at Detroit.

The Williamses, suspended for four games by the NFL on Tuesday for violating the league's policy on anabolic steroids and related substances, were granted a temporary restraining order to rejoin the team by Hennepin County District Court Judge Gary Larson. The suspensions came two days after the Vikings moved into sole possession of first place in the NFC North with a victory over Chicago.

Larson acknowledged leaving the case in limbo after he issued his ruling, but he said he is poised to conduct a full hearing as early as today, if that's what the NFL wants. That means Larson could still issue an order before Sunday that would make the Williamses ineligible to play.

Dan Nash, a lawyer for the NFL who is based in Washington, D.C., said he needs to consult with the league.

"I'm not sure what our next step will be," he said, adding that if the NFL doesn't try to move the case to federal court, he will want a hearing today.

Vikings coach Brad Childress, asked early in the day about how the Williamses had taken the news of their suspensions, said, "They're disappointed, as we're disappointed." Media access was complete for the day when the ruling was announced, and the team had no comment Wednesday evening. Barring another ruling early this morning, the Williamses could be on the practice field this afternoon.

New York-based attorney Peter Ginsberg said the players would fight a move to federal court from Hennepin County District Court.

Larson issued his ruling after an hour of vigorous debate from both sides. The request was filed at midday Wednesday and arguments were scheduled late in the afternoon. Ginsberg flew in shortly before the hearing; Nash conducted his arguments via conference call.

Both players attended the hearing and sat quietly behind their lawyers. They declined to comment as they entered and departed. But lawyer Patrick Williams said they likely would go pick up their playbooks.

The NFL's displeasure with the ruling was made clear in a statement: "The NFL policy on steroids and related substances is a collectively bargained program between the league and the NFL Players Association. The program and the collective bargaining agreement expressly bar precisely this kind of lawsuit.

"All of the steroid program's rules and procedures are established in agreement with the players' union. In other words, the players have agreed to the rules and the procedures that they are now challenging. There is no merit to this lawsuit, and we will promptly seek to have the order reversed."

The Williamses were among six NFL players suspended for using a diuretic that can serve as a masking agent for steroids. The players took a product known as StarCaps, a weight-loss pill manufactured by California-based Balanced Health Products. An NFL-banned product known as bumetanide was in the pills but not listed as an ingredient. It has been disputed whether the league acknowledged that it knew of the presence of bumetanide in StarCaps.

Also suspended this week for the same reason were three New Orleans players: running back Deuce McAllister and defensive linemen Charles Grant and Will Smith, along with Houston long snapper Bryan Pittman.

In the courtroom

Both the players and the league aggressively pursued their cases Wednesday. Ginsberg talked about how Kevin and Pat Williams have both worked hard in long careers. "Today the NFL wants to take away their reputations and a significant portion of their careers and I cannot tell you why," he said. "There is no decent excuse for what the NFL has done to these players."

Underlying the request to return to the field as soon as possible is a lawsuit against the NFL seeking damages as a result of negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, and negligent misrepresentation. Nash called the lawsuit meritless.

Random drug testing revealed July 26 that both players had bumetanide in their systems. They claimed they took the substance to lose weight. Neither player showed traces of anabolic steroids or urine dilution, the lawsuit noted.

But the NFL suspended both players for four games and upheld the suspensions after both players appealed Nov. 20 in New York. "The instant suspensions provide the NFL with a politically palatable solution to convincing public officials that the league is seriously policing the use of steroids," the players' legal documents said.

But Nash countered there is no dispute the players took a banned substance. "It doesn't matter whether you took them to mask a steroid or whether you took them to lose weight," he said.

Nash said for Larson to rule in favor of the players would fly in the face of the collective bargaining agreement between the NFLPA and the league. Nash said the agreement makes it clear that "players are responsible for what is in their bodies," and claiming ignorance about the ingredients in a nutritional supplement is no excuse. He also said the players' union has strongly warned players against using supplements.

Ginsberg countered that the NFL drug program is permeated by "fraud" and is "arbitrary and capricious." He said Kevin and Pat Williams are being "scapegoated" by the NFL.

When the sides finished, Larson swiveled in his chair and faced the back wall. He rocked silently back and forth in his chair. He then left the room briefly and came back.

"This is one of the more difficult cases I've had in my 23 years," he said. "My problem is this isn't an area I'm particularly familiar with and that hampers me."

Larson said if he made a mistake, he had to decide on which side he would prefer to err. He then said he would grant the order for a short time and if Nash wants a hearing today, he will get one.

Nash continued to try to argue against Larson's ruling. He pushed the judge hard against allowing the players to return to the team even for a short time. "You'd have ESPN all over the place. This is going to be a sideshow," Nash said.

Larson wears a bow tie, but he runs a collegial courtroom and is known as a thoughtful and thorough jurist. Asked as he left whether he is a Vikings fan, Larson said not particularly, but he admitted he is partial to Gophers men's hockey.

An odd day

The ruling capped a bizarre day at Winter Park in which players talked about their disappointment over the perceived loss of their Pro Bowl tackles.

"They're our teammates, our friends," linebacker Ben Leber said. "I totally believe what they've had to say. That's why I think it's just unfortunate that they've had this four-game suspension handed down to them. I feel like their situation is unique. Hopefully things go well for them the next couple days and we get a different ruling."

Coaches and players tried to walk a fine line between supporting the Williamses and being critical of the league's decision and perceived flaws in its drug-testing policy.

"I don't know all the details of their situation," Leber said. "It just sounds like there has been some gray area. However they address it in the offseason, hopefully they will get all that ironed out and we'll have more of a clear understanding of what's going on with our drug testing policies."

Staff writers Chip Scoggins and Mark Craig contributed to this report.

Keep up with the latest on the Williams suspensions and other news from Winter Park on our Access Vikings blog at startribune.com/vikings.