Patrick Reusse: NFLPA gave away any power to fight

Pat and Kevin Williams should not restrict the outrage they are feeling today toward the NFL office. They also should spend some time wondering why they have paid sizable dues to a union that can't help in a time of crisis.

The league waited until near the close of business hours Tuesday to announce the Williams lads and four other players were being suspended for the final one-fourth of the regular season.

The NFL's Adolpho Birch conducted a conference call late in the afternoon. He was asked about the possibility of a suspended player or players going to court to seek an injunction to continue playing.

Birch said there was nothing to prevent this, but then casually played the league's trump card with this reminder to reporters: "Our policy has been designed under collective bargaining."

So, there you have it: The players can go to court and maybe get a temporary injunction, but the bottom line is going to be that the NFL Players Association handed over disciplinary powers to the commissioner's office during negotiations.

There is an appeals process, but in the end, the commissioner's office calls the shot and the NFLPA stands aside as a compliant wimp.

Any union worth its salt would have hung tough in negotiations to create a disciplinary panel -- one representative from management, one from the players and a neutral party -- to decide these matters.

Jared Allen gets fined $75,000 in two weeks. He can waste time with an appeal, but sooner or later, that money will be gone.

Now, all we're going to hear from Vikings followers will be whining about what the loss of a tremendous pair of defensive tackles might mean to the team's playoff chances, but how about a little compassion over the slaughter they are taking in the pocketbook?

A four-game suspension will cost Pat Williams a monumental $941,000. Kevin's hit is $235,000, because he was fortunate to get a bundle up front and have a lower base salary.

The public and the media have a tendency to look at money as an infinite resource for pro athletes. The fact is, no matter the contract, $75,000 hurts, $235,000 hurts more and $941,000 is ludicrous.

Certainly, it's ludicrous when you have been paying union dues throughout a long, exceptional career, and now all the NFLPA can do is stand back and watch the commissioner's office steal your money.

Do we think the players carry those warnings around in loose-leaf binders? This was two years later, the banned ingredient was not on the label, and now Pat Williams -- who looks as much like a steroids guy as John Goodman -- is getting socked for nearly a million bucks.

What we have here is a 90 percent chance the Williams gentlemen were using this product to quickly lose weight and a 10 percent chance it was to mask steroids use.

The NFL has no problem basing suspensions -- and its theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars -- on the 10 percent chance, and the union as crafted by the late Mr. Upshaw has no meaningful help to offer.

David Cornwell is the lawyer for the three New Orleans Saints -- Deuce McAllister, Charles Grant and Will Smith -- also suspended on Tuesday.

Cornwell said in an e-mail to reporters Tuesday that his clients "did not try to enhance their performance with steroids ... they took a weight-loss supplement they had every reason to believe was safe."

The news isn't all bad for the players, though. Upshaw's job as executive director of the NFLPA is not yet filled. Cornwell is considered a candidate, and he's what this kowtowing union needs:

Someone willing to challenge Goodell's dictatorial powers along with maintaining a hefty percentage of revenues.