NFL Wins StarCaps Case, But Hope Remains For The Williams Wall

The National Football League lost the December battle, but still won the war. On Friday, Judge Paul Magnuson entered judgment in favor of the league on the claims made by the NFL Players Association on behalf of Vikings defensive tackles Kevin and Pat Williams, Saints defensive ends Charles Grant and Will Smith, and free-agent running back Deuce McAllister. We’ve obtained a copy of the written decision, and we’ll be analyzing it and posting something more on it later this morning. The important thing to remember for now is that the players likely will be suspended by the NFL for the first four games of the 2009 season. The only thing that could stop the suspensions at this point would be a ruling by an appeals court preventing the league from implementing the suspensions pending review of Judge Magnuson’s decision. There’s also a chance that Kevin and Pat Williams will avoid their suspensions under two state-law claims that were made by them in a separate lawsuit that was “removed” by the league from Minnesota state court to federal court, based on the contention that federal law controlled the case. Now that the federal claims are gone, Judge Magnuson opted to send the claims back to state court. Some of you might be confused by the fact that the players won the ability in December to finish the season, but now have essentially lost the case pursuant to federal law. Those of you who read this item from December 12 likely aren’t confused.