Williamses reach appeals court

Kevin and Pat Williams showed up Tuesday in a federal courtroom in St. Paul and listened to arguments concerning a four-game NFL-imposed suspension for each of them for taking a banned substance.

For an hour, three judges from the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals actively questioned lawyers for the NFL, the players' union and the players. The panel's chairwoman, Judge Diana Murphy, said they would rule in "due time, keeping in mind the start of the season." Judges Duane Benton and Bobby Shepherd made up the rest of the panel.

"We just have to let the courts do their job," Kevin Williams said as he left the courthouse after the hearing.

Hennepin County District Judge Gary Larson ruled this month that his court likely wouldn't force the Vikings defensive tackles into a civil trial during the coming season. Larson stayed action in his courtroom until the federal court determines whether it has jurisdiction over some of the claims.

The Williamses were given the four-game suspensions last year after they were found to have taken -- unwittingly, they say -- the banned substance bumetanide.

They filed a lawsuit in state court contending that the NFL's drug-testing procedures violate state workplace laws, and they asked that a judge void their suspensions. Then the NFL Players Association sued in U.S. District Court on their behalf.

The NFL's attorneys argued that the state claims should be dismissed because the federal courts have jurisdiction over the labor laws that govern its drug-testing program.

U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson dismissed the union's additional claim that the suspensions violated the players' collective bargaining agreement.

But Magnuson sent the Williamses' claims under state law back to Hennepin County, saying that they were not preempted by the union agreement.

Both sides appealed parts of Magnuson's rulings to the U.S. Court of Appeals. Regardless of how the three-judge panel decides, the losing side is likely to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case.

NFL attorney Dan Nash argued Tuesday that "this case is about two players who want to invalidate the foundational rule of personal responsibility in the NFL's agreement."

The Williamses argue that Minnesota law gives employees an opportunity to explain the innocent use of an otherwise banned product, but the NFL didn't allow them to explain their use of the over-the-counter supplement StarCaps.

Players union lawyer Cliff Greene said that the league and the union don't have the ability "to contract for what is unlawful under state law." He also faulted the league for failing to warn players that bumetanide is contained in StarCaps, even though the league knew that in 2006.

"I guess we just wait now," Pat Williams said after the hearing.

Rochelle Olson • 612-673-1747