Judge to rule by Aug. 7 in Vikings suspensions

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota Vikings linemen Kevin Williams and Pat Williams will have to wait a bit longer to find out if they will be going to trial before the season begins.

A state judge said Wednesday he will rule by Aug. 7 whether to put their lawsuit against the NFL on hold, as the league has requested. The two are fighting their pending suspensions for violating the NFL's policy against performance-enhancing drugs.

NFL attorney Dan Nash asked Hennepin County District Judge Gary Larson to stay the proceedings in state court while the federal 8th Circuit Court of Appeals considers other issues in the complicated case. The 8th Circuit has scheduled arguments in St. Paul for Aug. 18 and indicated it could rule before the regular season begins a few weeks later.

The NFL wants to suspend the two defensive linemen for four games apiece, and hopes to do so at the start of the season, because they tested positive last summer for a banned diuretic that can mask the presence of steroids. The diuretic, bumetanide, was an unlisted ingredient in the weight-loss supplement StarCaps, which they acknowledge taking.

Court proceedings have shown that the NFL knew StarCaps contained the banned drug, and the Williamses contend the league wrongly withheld that information from players. The Williamses, who are not related, are not accused of taking steroids.

Peter Ginsberg, an attorney for the two players, told Larson they want the lawsuit to go to trial before the season begins with a Sept. 13 game at Cleveland. If that's not possible, Ginsberg said, Larson should keep his restraining order against the suspensions in place, which would let them play out the season, and hold the trial afterward.

After Larson met privately with attorneys for both sides, Ginsberg said the judge told them he'd issue his ruling by Aug. 7 and probably earlier.

A federal judge dismissed several other parts of the case in May, but sent what was left to Larson to consider the Williamses' two remaining claims that the suspensions violate Minnesota employment laws. The NFL, the players' union and the Williamses are all appealing various parts of that ruling, and the 8th Circuit has said it will "take into consideration the need for an expedited decision based on the NFL season's starting date."