NFL players union requests hold on suspensions

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) " The NFL Players Association asked a federal judge on Thursday to keep the suspensions of five players on hold while the case over use of a banned substance is being appealed.

Vikings defensive tackles Kevin Williams and Pat Williams, along with three New Orleans Saints players, tested positive for a banned diuretic last year and were each given four-game suspensions for violating the National Football League's anti-doping policy.

Those suspensions were delayed while their cases were in federal court.

Last week, U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson threw out most claims by the Williamses, and all claims involving New Orleans Saints' Charles Grant and Will Smith, and Deuce McAllister, who was released by New Orleans after last season but hopes to find another team for the upcoming season.

The NFLPA plans to appeal that ruling, and now attorneys for the players union are asking that Magnuson allow the athletes to continue playing until the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals makes a decision.

Attorneys for the union argued in court documents that the players will suffer "irreparable harm" if the NFL enforces the suspensions before the case is resolved.

"If the appeal fails, the same suspensions could then be imposed, just after appellate review instead of during appellate review," attorneys for the NFLPA wrote.

Absent an injunction from the judge, the players would have to serve their four-game suspensions at the beginning of the 2009 season.

In his ruling last week, 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.

The NFLPA and the Williamses had argued in separate lawsuits that NFL officials knew a weight-loss supplement called StarCaps contained the banned diuretic bumetanide back in 2006, even though it wasn't listed on the label, and that 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.

Meanwhile, the NFL has also said it intends to appeal the portion of Magnuson's order that sent the claims by the Williamses, who are not related, to state court. The NFL wants those claims dismissed, too.