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Minnesota Supreme Court Refuses To Hear Pat Williams' Appeal

The long-running legal battle between Pat and Kevin Williams and the National Football League appears to, finally, be at an end.

Today, the Minnesota Supreme Court refused to hear Pat Williams' appeal of his suspension by the National Football League, which will clear the way for the NFL to suspend both sides of the Williams Wall, as well as New Orleans Saints' defensive end Will Smith, for the first four games of the 2011 NFL season.

The case stems from six players having taken the supplement "StarCaps" in an attempt to lose weight, not knowing that it contained a banned diuretic known as bumetanide. StarCaps did not list this ingredient on the label, but it appeared in random drug tests from the players that took it. The National Football League apparently knew that StarCaps contained bumetanide, and was found to have not informed the NFL teams of that fact.

With the Minnesota Supreme Court's refusal to hear the appeal, the accused have no more legal remedies, and will likely have to face their suspensions for the first four weeks of the NFL season.

Photographs by Micah Taylor, clairity, and Fibonacci Blue used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.