Analyst: Grant and Smith may get to play all year after ruling
Dave Cohen Reporting
A federal appeals court issued a ruling Friday in the case involving the NFL and two Saints players. It may or may not end up helping the players.
"Right now we are going to think about Detroit and Detroit only," Saints defensive end Charles Grant said when reporters told him about the ruling. "All I'm focused on is Detroit... Get this one win against Detroit, on the way to the Super Bowl and that's it."
Listen to Grant:
Grant and fellow defensive end Will Smith are facing four game suspensions for taking a banned diuretic. They have sued the NFL in federal court to try and block the penalty after saying that the banned substance was not listed on the ingredients list of the supplement they were taking.
So far, the NFL has held off on enforcing the suspension while the case works through the courts.
"I'm just waiting on the league," Grant said. "That suspension thing, I can't really comment... The thing you gotta focus on right now is for us to play Detroit."
As for any suspension after Sunday, Grant said it is a wait and see. "If it is meant for us to play, we'll play. If we don't, we'll have to be grown men, suck it up and take what's due to us... We're here to play Detroit this week. I can't worry about... next week."
Grant and Smith, along with former Saint Deuce McAllister and two Vikings players, are all suing over similar suspensions. The opinion pointed to some Minnesota law that works in the favor of the Vikings players, but not necessarily the Saints players.
WWL Legal Analyst Doug Sunseri said, "I think the NFL would be very cautious at this point in suspending Grant and Smith." He said that's because this case is not done working through the court system. If that happens, and the players are cleared after a suspension, he says the league could face liability. "Once you suspend someone, you can't unsuspend them."
If they do have to sit out four games, it would cost the players hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Sunseri thinks all of the pending legal action could mean the situation won't be resolved for quite some time. "It could drag on for a couple of years."
So, he says the Saints may have their defensive ends all season. "This probably will buy time for Smith and Grant for the rest of the year."
Listen to Sunseri:
What is the league saying? "We are looking at our options on how to proceed," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said in an e-mail.
"It is putting in jeopardy a drug program that has been put in front of the entire world as being one of the highest standards in all of sports," NFL Commissioner Goodell said in an interview on WFAN-AM in New York on Friday.
Goodell said the NFL was considering its next step, which could include an appeal, a trial in state court, or taking the issue to Congress.
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