House subcommittee chairman: We're here to help NFL, Vikings' Kevin and Pat Williams resolve differences

By Brian Murphy, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.

Nov. 3--WASHINGTON -- The chairman of a House subcommittee investigating the legal issues swirling around Minnesota Vikings defensive tackles Kevin and Pat Williams gaveled a hearing to order at 10:37 a.m. CST today, pledging to help the NFL and its players union resolve their differences in the so-called StarCaps case.

Rep. Bobby L. Rush, D-Ill., told NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith that Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection panel members would not debate the merits of the Williamses' lawsuit against the league, second-guess rulings by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals that were favorable to the Vikings players or assign blame for the dispute.

Rather, Rush wants to hear from the NFL power brokers and decide whether federal intervention is required.

"What we should be here to do is listen closely to our panel of expert witnesses. We should also hone in on what they don't say and what we could say to encourage these parties to work out their serious differences," Rush said.

"It is in all of our best interests for these parties to reach an agreement on this enormously important matter."

Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., who led congressional investigations into steroids abuse in baseball, said Major League Baseball has made progress in ridding the sport of performance-enhancing drugs after more than a decade of indifference.

However, the Williamses' ability to use Minnesota law to challenge suspensions

under the collective bargaining agreement "threatens to undermine that progress."

"If these rulings prevail, it could wreak havoc on steroids policies designed to curb performance-enhancing drugs in sports," Waxman said in his opening statement.

"We should not allow drug policies that the NFL, MLB and other professional sports have put in place to be rendered null and void. That is an invitation to steroid abuse in professional sports. And it will inevitably lead to more steroid abuse on high school football fields and baseball diamonds."

Goodell plans to testify that changes are necessary to the Labor Management Relations Act so players cannot use state law to circumvent the sport's drug-testing policies and gain unfair advantage over their competitors.

"A narrow and targeted amendment would preserve the rights of sports leagues and their player associations to negotiate and administer effective anti-drug and steroid programs," Goodell said in his prepared statement.

Court rulings allowing the Williamses to sue the NFL in Hennepin County for allegedly violating Minnesota's strict drug-testing standards threaten the credibility of steroids policies in the NFL and other professional sports leagues, according to Goodell.

Moreover, he said, they interfere with the league's authority to discipline players under the collective bargaining process.

"How can a professional sports league and a union negotiate an effective steroid policy when neither party can be sure exactly what agreement it is striking" he asked.

The commissioner accused the Players Association of tacitly endorsing the Williamses' lawsuit to sabotage their labor agreement and allow the Vikings Pro Bowlers to avoid punishment.

"With the help of the NFLPA, the Vikings players have been able to prolong their litigation for almost one year now. And this delay has succeeded even though we strongly believe that the players' state law claims have no merit," Goodell wrote.

In a closely scrutinized case that could be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, the Williamses accuse the NFL of violating Minnesota law by suspending them four games for testing positive for the banned substance bumetanide.

The league and Players Association classify bumetanide as a masking agent for steroids, although the Williamses are not accused of taking steroids. It was an undisclosed ingredient found in an over-the-counter diuretic, StarCaps, they were using.

Stymied by an appellate court's ruling allowing the Williamses' lawsuit to proceed, the NFL lobbied Congress to intervene, engaging lawmakers who compelled Major League Baseball to strengthen its anti-steroids policies.

Although the Williamses are suing the league individually, the union has argued that NFL scientists knew StarCaps was contaminated as early as 2006 but neglected to warn players about its findings and instead used the information to punish them.

NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith plans to testify that the league violated its responsibilities under the Policy for Anabolic Steroids and Related Substances.

"Frankly, the fundamental failure of that doctor to ensure immediate disclosure of the fact that StarCaps included bumetanide violated his paramount duty as a doctor -- to protect patients, in this case our players," Smith wrote in his opening statement.

The union wants to require the league to notify players when a specific product is found to contain a banned substance and amend the policy to have an impartial arbitrator rule on violations and discipline instead of the league officials under the current system.

"Experience has shown that allowing the NFL to pick one of its own attorneys to arbitrate drug policy appeals undermines the credibility of the process," Smith wrote.

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