Dec 7, 2008 11:19 pm US/Central
Vikings Fans Weigh In On 'Williams Wall' Playing
(WCCO)
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Kevin Williams No. 93 and Pat Williams No. 4 of the Minnesota Vikings watch from the sidelines during the NFL game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field on Dec. 7, 2008, in Detroit.
Christian Petersen/Getty Images
The "Williams Wall" helped the Vikings beat the Lions in a close fame on Sunday, but fans are still waiting to find out if a federal judge will allow Pat and Kevin Williams to continue to play the rest of the season.
Last week the NFL and the Players Association argued whether or not Pat and Kevin Williams, and three other players, should be reprimanded for taking diet pills. The pills, called StarCaps, contain Bumetanide, an NFL banned substance. Bumetanide is a diuretic, but can also mask the use of steroids.
Talking to a group of friends during Sunday's game, two bring Vikings fans and one is a Bear fan, they agreed that this isn't like the usual kind of trouble they've seen NFL players get into.
"It's not as bad as blowing off your leg or throwing somebody through windows or whatever, but it is still against the rules," said Nic Kolodzeij, who lives in Minneapolis and is a big Vikings fan. "If they did do something wrong, they still should be punished for it."
However, the Players Association says none of the players knew they were taking a banned substance. As much as Kolodziej and his friend and fellow Vikings fan, Myk Dillon, want the "Williams Wall" to stand strong through the rest of the season, they question the judgment of all the players involved.
"You know, it's the NFL," says Dillon. "You get paid too much money to take these kind of risks."
One of those risks is taking an over-the-counter supplement. Kelly Drews is in town from Chicago, but says no matter who the players are, they should know better.
"I could probably go on Google and find the rules for NFL football," he said. "It's probably not that difficult."
So doing only Google searches, you can find the full list of the NFL's banned substances within a minute. After a little more searching, you can also find the ingredients in StarCaps, where Bumetanide is not listed as one of the ingredients.
However, online there was also a memo from July 2007 and a similar one from July 2008. It's from John Lombardo, M.D., an independent administrator of the NFL Policy and Procedures for Anabolic Steroids and related substances.
The memo addresses weight reduction products. And in it states, "…remember that the contents of supplements may not match what it listed on the label of the bottle. If you test positive for a banned stimulant or diuretic or water pill, this constitutes a positive test."
This memo is why the Vikings fans we spoke with said if it were up to any of them, they would suspend the players.
"That's like the equivalent of me not knowing that the speed limit is 65, and I'm driving 80," said Drews. "You know, you're still in the wrong. You're still responsible for finding out what the rules are and what the laws are."
On Friday, a U.S. District judge agreed with a Hennepin County Court's decision earlier in the week to block the NFL from enforcing its suspension of the five players.
The judge said he needs time to make his own decision, but didn't say how much time.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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