Williamses enter uncertain offseason

Pat and Kevin Williams gathered their belongings, posed for pictures and talked about their trip to Hawaii for the Pro Bowl. But the Vikings defensive tackles also entered the offseason Monday with uncertainty hanging over the heads.

Their case involving the use of a banned diuretic remains in the court's hands, and whether their four-game suspensions are upheld will be determined this offseason. U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson granted the Williamses an injunction in mid-December which allowed them to finish the season. The suspensions, if upheld, will begin next season.

Magnuson said he needed more time to consider the case between the NFL and the Players Association. The Williamses -- along with three players from the New Orleans Saints -- were suspended for four games after testing positive for the banned diuretic bumetanide, which is contained in the supplement StarCaps and can be used as a masking agent for steroids.

The StarCaps label didn't list bumetanide as an ingredient. The players' union contends the NFL didn't properly inform players about StarCaps.

Both Kevin and Pat expressed confidence Monday that they will win their case.

"It's going to be over sooner than ... it's pretty much over to me," Kevin said. "I don't know what else we can do with it."

Asked how far he's willing to take the fight, Kevin said: "I mean, we're not trying to be suspended, as you can see. If that's what road they go on, we're going to fight it."

Kevin said he would "definitely be shocked" if the suspensions are upheld. Pat Williams also claimed he is innocent of any wrongdoing.

"Yeah, clear my name and stuff, like basically prove to everybody that I was innocent -- prove to the fans, prove to everybody that I was innocent," he said.

Pat Williams said he wants to clear his name but he said he's not worried about damage to his reputation.

"Everybody already knows me, so everybody already knows the truth," he said. "I ain't really worried about that. The fans still love me. Kids still love me. I still do my charity work so everybody still loves me, so I ain't hurt by nothing, really."

According to a letter that was included in their lawsuit, the Williamses both admitted they used a diuretic because they could trigger a weight clause of $400,000 if they were at or below their prescribed weight a set number of times each year. However, the weight clause said the players "would not engage in any 'last-minute weight reduction techniques,' which included 'use of diuretics.'"

Kevin Williams declined to get into specifics of the case, but he said he tried not to let it distract him.

"You still had to go out and play ball and that's the way I looked at it," he said. "We felt we were in the right or whatever, so it really didn't bother me."