Williams Wall Suffers Setback (?)

Kevin and Pat Williams‘ case against the NFL was dealt an apparently lethal blow on Friday:

"A federal judge has dismissed most of the claims by two Vikings stars facing suspension over their positive test for a banned diuretic. U.S. District Judge Paul A. Magnuson on Friday remanded two of the claims by Vikings defensive tackles Kevin Williams and Pat Williams to state court.But Magnuson threw out most of the Williamses’ claims and dismissed a lawsuit brought by the NFL players’ union on behalf of the Williamses and three New Orleans Saints players also facing suspension. Attorneys for the players’ union and the Williamses argued that league officials knew a supplement called StarCaps contained a banned diuretic back in 2006 and did not specifically notify players. But the judge agreed with the NFL — that players are responsible for what is in their bodies."

It seems almost 100% certain now that we will play the first four games of the season without Pat and Kevin.  Some have pointed out that the early season schedule looks favorable for the Vikings, hence we should be able to win without our stud linemen, but I never go for those “easy win” arguments.  Every year teams lose games they should win and win games they should lose.  Bottom line is, you want all your horses in there for every game, and losing both those guys at the same time, for such a long stretch, is going to put this team at a disadvantage, regardless of who they are playing.

Update: Mike Florio, who fancies himself a great legal mind, has taken apart judge Magnuson’s opinion, and come to the conclusion that it may actually mean good things for the Williams Wall.  I am completely out of my depth when it comes to legal matters – my experience extends to jury duty and paying speeding tickets – so I will refer you to Mr. Florio’s post.

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