On Friday, the NFL reacted to the appeals court decision in the StarCaps case by complaining that the players union failed to support the league’s steroids policy.
The union has now responded.
“The Players objected to a system where the NFL can withhold information from
its
players and nonetheless punished the players for some something about which
they
were unaware,” said the NFLPA in a statement. “What the NFL dismisses as mere silence, Players challenged in the pursuit of
fairness. Nonetheless, the NFL knows that the Players continued to seek a
mutual resolution of this issue up until this decision. The NFL’s concern for
uniformity is as important today as it was before the 8th Circuit’s decision. We are reviewing the decision, but we continue to welcome the opportunity to
discuss a resolution that is fair to all Players.”
We agree with the union on this one. The attack on the steroids policy was fueled by the fact that the NFL knew an over-the-counter weight-loss supplement had been secretly spiked with a prescription diuretic, but the NFL failed to specifically warn the players of this fact. That reality has troubled us from the first moment we learned of it, and that reality alone should prompt the NFL to work with the union to come up with a solution to this problem that allows all players who tested positive for a banned substance because they had taken StarCaps to avoid suspensions.
It’s possible that such talks are occurring, likely because because the NFL realizes that there will be a huge outcry from Saints (and Packers and Bears) fans if Pat and Kevin Williams of the Vikings are not suspended and Saints defensive ends Charles Grant and Will Smith are suspended for engaging in identical conduct.
The other guy who’s getting screwed by this situation is former Saints running back Deuce McAllister. He has been unable to find a job, likely due to the presumption that he’ll eventually be suspended four games. As a practical matter, he already has been suspended one game, and counting.
The league really messed up on this one. I’m all for preventing players from gaining an unfair advantage by taking banned or illegal substances, but the NFL knew about the StarCaps problem and didn’t take appropriate action to warn players. It gives the appearance of a “Gotcha!” type of mentality, which doesn’t make sense. It’s clearly in the league’s best interests to avoid situations where the public perceives (rightly or wrongly) that use of banned substances is widespread.
The NFL front office should issue a strong warning and make it clear that going forward, unless it’s on the approved substances list, even the fact that the manufacturer has flat-out lied about what’s contained in a supplement won’t get a player off the hook for using the substance. But because of the bizarre nature of the StarCaps case, and the fact that the NFL could have prevented the problem, they should let the players off without suspensions this time.
Thanks for bringing the truth back into the light on this. The NFL made a foolish decision to keep the information from players, and then to hold them accountable on the old “each player is responsible for what he puts in his body.” The NFL should have, from the beginning, admitted that this case was flawed and found a compromise with the NFLPA and the players in question. Penalizing the players and their teams 25% of their annual salary and season is a very heavy and unreasonable decision when you understand the NFL’s culpability in this unique situation.
Now they have the spectre of unequal penalty and unfair retribution. The NFL and the staff of lawyers that advise them should have known better.
I call bullcrap on the Union.
Those players took a substance that is known to mask steroid use. They cheated, pure and simple.
Now, because of a glitch in Minnesota law that allows cheaters to test positive more than once before they are punished, the Vikings players will get away with this.
The Union is endorsing cheating.
I don’t agree that the NFL should have an “approved” substance list, they have an “approved” supplement list and a “banned” substance list. That is fine. However, the NFL’s biggest mistake here was to learn of an UNLISTED banned substance in Starcaps and then not notify the players or Union for over a year. That has all the smell of a trap and that is why the guys caught here should not be punished. If notification had gone the NFL would not have an issue, I don’t see why they won’t notify the player or union if they knew, that’s just stupid, it’s like me knowing that the brakes were failing in my car and not telling any of the other people in the car or who might drive the car.
Shamrock,
Apparently you have intelligence issues or you have not kept up with this issue very well. I am not a Vikings fan either, but I have never considered this to be about cheating for any of the players involved including the Saints. I think PFT fianally got it right in this article. If the NFL would have understood that this particular case is flawed and worked with the players and the union they could have cleared this up in a fair and equal way. What if you took some vitamins or something that you thought was harmless and then failed a drug test at your work, and they suspended or fired you. How would you feel? Would you fight for what you think is right for you? Would you feel like your employer was wrong because you had no intentions of breaking the rules? Somehow, I think you are too pigheaded to see it any other way or whatever selfish reasons you have. Furthermore, the williams wall is not in the clear. They still face a trial on this which is their right in the state of Minnesota. I live in Missouri, but I can surely understand the rights of an individual state to handle their own business. That is what this country was built upon and the whole intentions of our founding fathers. They did not want another monarchy, thus giving the states the right to govern themselves without interference from the federal government. Even the federal courts recognize in this case it is the right of the state of Minnesota to hear the 2 particular points in question that deal with employers testing for LEGAL drugs. I could go on and on about this, but if its easier for you to see this as cheating and it helps you sleep at night or for whatever reason (you are a fan of another NFC North team) there is no sense arguing with ignorance.
The NFLPA is right and the NFL is dead wrong. They want to have their cake and eat it too.
Case in point- When the Vikings got sued by Korey Stringer’s family after he did of heat exhaustion, the Vikings deferred to the NFL and said that Korey worked for the NFL.
The NFL said, OH No, he is a MN Vikings employee and he was governed by Minnesota State Labor Laws. Who won? The NFL- it got thrown back down to the state. Now they want to have it both ways. Sorry, doesn’t work like that.
Where are all the angry Anti-Vikings?
The Union and your position are out of line.
The NFL’s long standing position is that such products are potentially prone to trouble since the ingrediants are not listed and the formulas can change all the time. There is no way of knowing what is in the product except a companys assertion that it herbal and natural. In this case Star Caps lied.
The NFL did not have Star Caps on the approved list. In fact the NFL repeatedly warned of products of this nature.
The NFL is not the Food and Drug Administration. It is not their duty to test every product. As a lawyer you ought to know the kind of litigation the NFL can be involved everytime the NFL made a comment on a changeable product. This product was advertized as one of those wacky herbal concotions not subject to FDA approval. It was in fact illegal and falsely advertized.
The Union negotiated the CBA. They stood by the right to appeal suspensions to the Commissioner or his representative, until this case.
Why do damn weirdo left wing nutjob lawyers ignore the responsibilities that come with rights?
Players are responsible for what they put in their mouths.
These individuals put a nonapproved and illegal product in their mouths.
They were attempting to reduce the water in their bodies to meet their contractual weight requirements; dangerous, unhealthy, and improperly cheating their employers in their contractual duties to maintain weight.
Losing water in a hot training camp environment is obviously foolish and to be condemned.
The fat cheater boys in question were cheating on their contracts. They were taking a con man’s illegal product. Now lawyers somehow claim they are not responsible for their own actions?!!!
There is NO REASONABLE OR MORAL WAY to support such outragious behavior by these obese cheating immoral players.
An honest man cannot be conned.
Bob Nelson is an IDIOT. Yeah, that’s right. The NFL seemed it fit to have the vikings to have to operate under MN state labor laws when it was in their best interest. Well, there is some egg on their face now b/c the Vikings are using the same argument they did a few years back with Stringer.
What the lawyers are arguing BOB ‘takes a cock in the face’ Nelson is that they can’t be suspended for the first violation of substance abuse in MN and they can’t be suspended for taking a legal substance (by law) off the work site.
Yall are arguing about a bad drug policy to begin with. None of these problems would exist if the NFL had a more regular across the board testing policy. That way there would be no way to cheat. You wouldn’t have to test for masking agents because they wouldn’t have time to work. This half-assed policy just doesn’t work. Arguing over the minutiae of the current failed policy just gives it credence it doesn’t deserve to begin with.
Yes the states have the right to dictate employment law in their state. This is a Good Thing and rather than undermining it you should be thankful that it exists. Unrestrained federal power is a Bad Thing.
The NFL is behaving like someone whose position is on quicksand and they’re grasping for excuses, regardless of how ridiculous they are, in an attempt to cover their asses. States rights override the rules the league has put in place, making the entire system broken. On top of that the actions of their drug team in not disclosing the Starcaps finding is inexcusable. Rather than compromising on this issue and giving people who were in violation a pass they’ve now opened up a can of worms that will keep biting them in the ass until they fix their policy in general. Hey, some of us called this months ago, but the league in its arrogance ignored these arguments. Now they’ll be spending far more money on lawyers than a halfway intelligent policy would have cost.
The fastest way for the league to correct the problem is to institute a more comprehensive testing regime in the new CBA (which oddly they seem to have no interest in getting done), and to admit its errors and cut their losses. That’s it. Done deal. By continuing to pursue something which will be moot in a few months simply undermines their integrity and gives ammunition to the PA in the new CBA negotiations. There are good times to retreat and this is one of them. Sadly they don’t seem to get that.