NFLPA files notice of appeal in StarCaps case involving Charles Grant, Will Smith, Deuce McAllister and two Minnesota Vikings players
Posted by The Associated Press May 27, 2009 3:45PM
MINNEAPOLIS — The NFL Players Association plans to appeal a judge’s ruling in the case of five players facing suspensions over positive drug tests.
The NFLPA is appealing the ruling against Deuce McAllister, Will Smith and Charles Grant.
The union filed its notice of appeal Wednesday with the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The players association wants the appeals court to reconsider a judge’s dismissal last week of a lawsuit filed by the union on behalf of Vikings star defensive tackles Kevin Williams and Pat Williams, and New Orleans Saints’ Charles Grant and Will Smith, and Deuce McAllister, the Saints’ career rushing leader, who was released by New Orleans after last season but hopes to find another team for the upcoming season.
U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson on Friday threw out most claims by Kevin Williams and Pat Williams, who are not related, and all claims involving the three Saints players.
This is the second appeal arising from that order. On Tuesday, the NFL filed notice that it will appeal the portion of Magnuson’s order that remanded the two remaining claims by Kevin Williams and Pat Williams to state court because they involve Minnesota laws. The league is hoping to get those two claims dismissed, too.
NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith issued a statement saying that the union intends to appeal Magnuson’s ruling.
In their separate lawsuits, the union and Kevin Williams and Pat Williams said NFL officials knew a weight-loss supplement the five players took called StarCaps contained the banned diuretic bumetanide, even though it wasn’t listed on the label. They said the league should have notified players and federal regulators.
The NFL bans bumetanide because it can be used as a masking agent for steroids. The five players were not accused of taking steroids.
The players are seeking to have their four-game suspensions overturned. An injunction allowing them to continue playing remains in place.
In his ruling on Friday, Magnuson said the NFL’s policy is clear: Players are responsible for what they put in their bodies, and inadvertently ingesting a banned substance is not an excuse.
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