Thread: Appeals court declines to rehear Williamses case

Merry Christmas!

MINNEAPOLIS (AP)—A federal appeals court on Monday rejected an NFL request to reconsider its decision in a high-profile sports labor case involving two Minnesota Vikings accused of violating the league’s anti-doping policy.

In a split decision, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied the NFL’s request for a rehearing before either the full appeals court or the same three-judge panel that ruled against the league in September in the case of Kevin Williams(notes) and Pat Williams
(notes). Four of the court’s 11 judges dissented.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-nflsuspensions&prov=ap&type=lgns

Suck it Goodell.

This is great news. F U Goodell.

the NFL hates the vikings

Exactly who is the "NFL" that they are referring too. Is it really just Goodell? Is it a panel? "The NFL's request for a hearing..." Who is really pushing this. The owners? Seriously, what does that mean, and who is the "NFL?"

I know this doesn't really win me any popularity contests here, but I still agree with the league in this case. Allowing a state loophole to circumvent a nation wide policy that was agreed upon through a collective bargaining process is a shame. It takes away the ability for the NFL to enforce its policy uniformly and fairly.

If this was any other team other than the Vikings, I would bet that almost every single one of you would agree. But because it is the Vikings, people are crying foul.

It doesn't surprise me that the appeals court elected not to hear the case. The fact is that the law is on the side of the Williamses. But that doesn't make it right. It is a loophole. It is a law that was set up in Minnesota to protect employees in the state, and it is being exploited for reasons outside its original intent. The fact still remains that the Williamses used a product that they were explicitly warned NOT to take, and now IMHO they should take responsibility for their actions.

But that won't happen, and in the end the new CBA will have a juristiction clause in it to prevent this from happening in the future. It is a shame that it has to come to this.

I understand what you are saying.

But the fact remains the NFL gets off easy if it just say you are responsible for ANYTHING that is deemed illegal in you're body.

I'm sorry but they are football players not chemists.

The bottom line Starcaps did not disclose the information that was illegal on the product.

How in the HECK are you suppose to screen something if it is not listed on the product??

I think the Anti-doping rule in the NFL is WAY one sided.

I agree the loophole is weak, but the real problem is the NFL should have looked at this unique case and treat as such unique.

Jereamiah wrote:

Exactly who is the "NFL" that they are referring too. Is it really just Goodell? Is it a panel? "The NFL's request for a hearing..." Who is really pushing this. The owners? Seriously, what does that mean, and who is the "NFL?"

I would imagine Godell and executives. I doubt the owners care either way (well, the Bears/Packers do, but other than that I be most are tired of hearing about it) I could be wrong, but I don't think they have a say in suspensions/fines.

Vikes wrote:

I understand what you are saying.

But the fact remains the NFL gets off easy if it just say you are responsible for ANYTHING that is deemed illegal in you're body.

I'm sorry but they are football players not chemists.

The bottom line Starcaps did not disclose the information that was illegal on the product.

How in the HECK are you suppose to screen something if it is not listed on the product??

I think the Anti-doping rule in the NFL is WAY one sided.

I agree the loophole is weak, but the real problem is the NFL should have looked at this unique case and treat as such unique.

I agree that they should have looked at this as a unique case, but the part that really sticks in my mind is the fact that the players were warned through both the team trainers AND the NFLPA not to take any products made by Balanced Health Products. It isn't like the players were taken completely by surprise. They were warned NOT to take the diuretic, and they did anyway.