NFL Banned StarCaps Maker Before Williams¿ Tests

The NFL today disclosed evidence that it placed the makers of the weight loss supplement StarCaps on its banned manufacturer list more than a year and a half before Vikings players Kevin and Pat Williams used the product and tested positive for a banned substance.

Both of the Williams tested positive for the presence of Bumetanide in 2008 were suspended by the NFL. Bumentaide is a diuretic that the NFL and the players union agrees is a masking agent for steroids. Both players are suing the NFL for violating the State of Minnesota’s drug testing disclosure law.

On the witness stand Wednesday morning, Stacey Robinson, Director of Player Development for the NFL Players Association testified that he received a memo from the NFL in December of 2006 that added the maker of StarCaps to the league’s list of banned manufacturers.

The next day Robinson said he notified all player representatives and agents of the decision in his own letter. In the letter he warned them about the company Balanced Health Products which distributed StarCaps.

Although the letter did not specifically indicate the ingredients in StarCaps violated the league’s drug policy, Robinson’s letter did advise that, “Players are prohibited from participating in any endorsement agreements with this company or using any of its products.”

Kevin Williams told the court he used StarCaps prior to training camp in 2008 to lose weight to meet requirements of his player contract with the Vikings. Under cross examination by NFL attorneys, Williams acknowledged his contract clearly prohibited him from using diuretics to lose weight. The attorneys led by Daniel Nash revealed the wording of Williams’ contract that reads, “The player agrees not to use any last minute weight loss tactics including the excessive use of steam rooms or diuretics.”

Williams once again today denied ever knowing that StarCaps contained a banned substance. He told his attorney Peter Ginsburg and judge Gary Larson that no one ever told him not to take StarCaps.

On the stand for the second day, Williams also disclosed that he told more people about his positive drug test than he previously disclosed. All along he told the judge that he told no one about his test results and that not even his family knew until they saw it leaked on a television report in October of 2008.

But under cross examination today, Williams disclosed that he not only told his wife, but also Vikings head coach Brad Childress, along with his agent and an attorney. The NFL attorneys then revealed that two Vikings employees were copied on a memo from Williams’ attorney including them on the test results as well.

The testimony is important to the NFL because it establishes that the leak of the test results to the public could have come from a wider circle of people and not necessarily from within the NFL.