Kevin Williams giving up StarCaps fight

Vikings defensive tackle Kevin Williams appears to have had enough of his legal battle to avoid suspension from the NFL. While teammate Pat Williams is appealing the latest decision, Kevin is not.

The long legal battle between the Williams Wall and the NFL is nearing an end, at least in terms of one of the two Williamses.

On Thursday lawyer Peter Ginsberg said that Kevin Williams won’t appeal the latest legal ruling stemming from the StarCaps issue. While Pat Williams has maintained that he will continue to fight the four-game suspension imposed by the league, Kevin has said enough is enough.

Last month, the Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the NFL in its ability to suspend him for violating the league’s banned substance policy. By waiving his right to appeal, the suspension, which is expected to remain four games, will take place at the start of the 2011 season, which would represent the first four games of the year and cost Williams approximately $1.5 million of his $6 million salary.

While Kevin has thrown in the towel on the appeals process, Pat is still moving forward with his appeal. He has filed an appeal with the Minnesota Supreme Court, which will likely prevent any quick action against his pending suspension. The impetus for his decision to press on with the appeal may be due in large part to him being a free agent when a new collective bargaining agreement is reached and his market value would drop considerably if any potential new teams would be required to wait four games for him to become available.

While this may seem like a break in the ranks of the Williams Wall, it is more likely a difference in career path. Kevin has a few years left in his career and is looking to finally put the 2008 StarCaps decision behind him. Pat is in the final year or two of his career and can ill-afford to have his finite opportunity to continue playing cut short by a suspension.

It has been a dark cloud that has hung over both of the Williamses for the last three seasons and it would appear that, at long last, the case will finally be settled … at least as far as Kevin is concerned.

FRIDAY NOTES

The NFL and the players association exchanged some terse words, against the advice of the federal mediator who asked both sides to keep the talks private. Friday is the final day of the one-week extension of the current CBA agreement, but Thursday’s words didn’t bode well. It began with NFL general counsel Jeff Pash saying that he wasn’t convinced the union was trying to reach an agreement, which prompted NFPLA executive director DeMaurice Smith to say the NFL is greedy – not the kind of words you want to hear when you’re entering the final day of negotiations.

If significant progress isn’t made today and an extension isn’t agreed on, look for the NFLPA to decertify and file an antitrust case against the league, which could mire the matter in the court system for months (or more).

While there is little movement on the labor front, there is building momentum for a stadium bill to keep the Vikings in Minnesota. According to some of the talking heads at the State Capitol, a new stadium bill being presented to the House and Senate is coming soon – likely early next week.

Tiki Barber’s announced return to the NFL is being viewed largely as a financial issue. Barber has apparently lost considerable money since leaving the league and there isn’t much of a buzz about his potential to return. In fact, some league insiders have speculated that his best option might be to play in the fledgling United Football League.

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John Holler has been writing about the Vikings for more than a decade for Viking Update. Follow Viking Update on Twitter and discuss this topic on our message boards. To become a subscriber to the Viking Update web site or magazine, click here.

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