Six NFL Players Suspended

December 3rd, 2008 filed in Football

Six NFL players were suspended for four games without pay by the NFL on Tuesday for violating the league’s anti-doping policy by using a diuretic which can serve as a masking agent for steroids. The suspended players were running back Deuce McAllister and defensive linemen Charles Grant and Will Smith of New Orleans; defensive linemen Kevin and Pat Williams of Minnesota; and long snapper Bryan Pittman of Houston. Unlike the previous players that have been suspended this season, this suspension included big names

ESPN Reports:

“I definitely was not trying to cheat in any form,” McAllister told The Associated Press in a phone interview. “I tried to do everything the right way.” The punishment means all six will miss the end of the regular season, an especially harsh blow to Minnesota, which relies heavily on the Williamses in its run defense, which ranks second in the league.

Angelo Wright, the agent for Pat Williams, said he planned to file a motion in federal court in the next 24 hours, presumably to put off his client’s suspension. Tom Condon, the agent for Kevin Williams, said he hadn’t yet determined what course of action to take. If a player’s team makes the playoffs, the player will be eligible to return to the active roster on Dec. 29.

The suspension of Pat and Kevin Williams, who are not related, may prove to be the most critical. The Vikings lead Chicago by a game in the NFC North with four games left, in large part because the Williamses are considered the NFL’s best defensive tackle combination. Last Sunday, they led a goal-line stand that kept Chicago from taking a 14-3 second-quarter lead in Minneapolis. On the first play after the Bears were stopped, the Vikings’ Gus Frerotte threw a 99-yard touchdown pass to Bernard Berrian, giving Minnesota a 10-7 lead it never lost, a 14-point swing.

“In response to this afternoon’s ruling, the Minnesota Vikings are very disappointed in the National Football League’s suspension of Kevin and Pat Williams,” the team said in a statement. “At the appropriate time, we will have further comment.”

Steroid Nation explains further:

Basically the players tested positive for the potent diuretic bumetanide. However their defense says that the NFL players took a women’s weight loss supplement StarCaps, contaminated with the masking agent (covers the use of steroids). The NFL apparently knew StarCaps spiked their supplement with the potent diuretic bumetanide, obviously to cheat women who buy the pill with water weight loss. So why then didn’t the league aggressively ostracize the supplement? The action on this suspension is not over by a long shot. More legal maneuvering, and much more talk especially if the Vikings miss on their playoff run. The get tough policy by Roger Goodell may be justified by a letter the NFL sent to all players last summer. The letter warned players about supplements (long known to cheat on ingredients).

and finally InGameNow notes:

The Vikings are playing the Detroit Lions and remain the only really “likely / possible” victory…without Kevin Williams and Pat Williams, maybe drugs have kept the Lions from 0-16!

NFL Players CHEATED by taking supplements.
Chester Cheater
This is really simple. These players were warned that anything they put into their body is their own responsibility. They were warned that supplements could not be trusted, and were given a list of ingredients that were banned. They tested positive for a banned substance, that they admit to taking. They are guilty, and they CHEATed. The suspensions should and will stand, just as they did for Jamar Nesbit, Terrence Metcalf, and Darryl Blackstock

These NFL Players were BEAT by the system
Billy Beater

This is another case of the testing and prevention going to far. These players had no intention of cheating. This was an honest mistake of taking a supplement that they were not aware contained a banned substance. The supplement was not being used to mask steroid use, and these players benefited in no way by using them. Therefore it is not CHEATing, and they should not be suspended.

So what do you think? Did these NFL Players CHEAT, or BEAT?