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Though only three members of the New Orleans Saints currently face suspensions for taking StarCaps, which contained a secret, FDA-regulated ingredient not listed on the label, we’re told that defensive end Will Grant testified at the combined hearing of the appeals of Grant, Will Smith, and Deuce McAllister that as many as 25 Saints players were taking StarCaps.
A fourth Saints player, guard Jamar Nesbit, chose not to appeal his four-game suspension. He has since sued the manufacturer of StarCaps for his lost wages and other damages.
Other players currently facing four-game suspensions for testing positive for Bumetanide, the banned substance in StarCaps, are Vikings defensive tackle Kevin and Pat Williams, Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jackson, and Texans long snapper Bryan Pittman.
December 1st, 2008 at 11:15 am
Again, I don’t think a whole damn team would be stoopid enough to try and cheat the system.
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December 1st, 2008 at 11:16 am
In before “The whole patriots team cheated.”
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December 1st, 2008 at 11:21 am
They weren’t trying to cheat the system, in my mind. If Bumetanide wasn’t listed on the label of the bottle, they couldn’t have known that it was in StarCaps.
They were simply taking a supplement that they thought was perfectly legal. Turns out, it wasn’t.
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December 1st, 2008 at 11:40 am
They should just buck up and have an All-Starcaps team this year. It looks like their defensive line will be one of the best in the league.
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December 1st, 2008 at 11:43 am
Isn’t it Charles GRANT not Will GRANT…
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December 1st, 2008 at 11:44 am
I just don’t see how any of these guys gets suspended. They looked at a product’s label and there were no banned substances on it. Players are supposed to call the league if they are unsure of a product, but if you read the label and nothing banned was listed, you wouldn’t be in doubt.
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December 1st, 2008 at 11:50 am
They were all taking it because they thought they had an out. It was amazing how quickly everyone was taking Starcaps…. At the end of the day it was wrong for the NFL not to make it known that there was a banned substance in the product, but it is very doubtful that once this information was known that the players weren’t taking it for that exact reason. At the end of the day the NFL cannot be 100% sure that Starcaps was the culprit. Just because a player says he took it, which they all probably did, there isn’t a way to know if they took Bumetanide alone knowing they could fall back on the Starcaps excuse.
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December 1st, 2008 at 12:07 pm
“I just don’t see how any of these guys gets suspended. They looked at a product’s label and there were no banned substances on it. Players are supposed to call the league if they are unsure of a product, but if you read the label and nothing banned was listed, you wouldn’t be in doubt. ”
I only vaguely remember reading it here before, but hasn’t at least one player claimed that the league office never answers the phone or returns phone calls about this sort of thing?
Maybe a couple of them did call to find out, but got no answer
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December 1st, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Ultimately I think it’s the league’s fault for not being on top of this and not providing full disclosure on the previous StarCaps findings. That being said, instead of all these players buying useless sh** to lose weight. PUT DOWN THE CHEESEBURGER! Seriously, look at the aforementioned people…does their body composition look any different from last year to this year. I say no.
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December 1st, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Look at the players in question, do any one of them resemble someone who is taking steroids. They almost certainly were taking these pills to lose the weight, not to mask steroid use. Pat Williams, Kevin Williams, Deuce mcAllister, Grady Jackson, etc.
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December 1st, 2008 at 12:21 pm
PatAyling, you’re absolutely right. And if I’m not mistaken, Bumetanide is used as a masking agent for steroids. It doesn’t take much common sense to understand you have to take steroids before you can attempt to mask it. Charles Grant, Will Smith, and Deuce McAllister have not tested positive for steroids but for Bumetanide. The whole “cheating” aspect of this story has already been covered.
Correct me if I’m wrong, Florio.
I, too, will be surprised if these players are disciplined for this. But if adverse action is taken, the NFL should revisit its policy on players taking supplements.
Also, I doubt 25 Saints were using StarCaps. And even if they were, how many other players in the NFL have taken it? Why are only New Orleans and Minnesota being targeted?
I’m tired of the whole thing.
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December 1st, 2008 at 12:22 pm
please dont disqualify half the saints and kill the detroit dream of 0-16!
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December 1st, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Relax, empty13. Nothing short of armageddon is going to keep Detroit from 0-16. Poor bastards. I almost feel bad for them.
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December 1st, 2008 at 1:04 pm
No one has looked into if the Saints organization SUPPLIED the team with starcaps! It easily could be 25+ members of the team took it if the team supplied them with starcaps. Teams supply their players with just about everything..it wouldnt suprise me if they gave them the starcaps.
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December 1st, 2008 at 1:45 pm
If the NFL knew Starcaps contained Bumetanide, then so did the players. Don’t piss down my back and tell me it’s raining.
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December 1st, 2008 at 2:28 pm
Who is this Will Grant and when did we sign him? CHAMPIONSHIP!
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December 1st, 2008 at 2:52 pm
One thing to keep in mind is that Starcaps is one of the top brands in this market. Most diet pills come and go but Starcaps has been around for over 25 years and is a celebrity fave. Nikki Haskell is the inventor of this pill and promotes its all natural base. The total effect of the pills is 0.8mg of Bumetanide To mask any trace of steroids a person of considerable mass (250 lbs+) needs to take at least 4 mg of Bumetanide which would mean taking five pills a day which would lead to serious side effects such as constant dizzyness, massive electrolyte imbalance that could cause major organ damage, etc. Would a nfl player risk those possibilities for taking the overdosage of Starcaps.
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December 1st, 2008 at 7:26 pm
25 took StarCaps but only 4 tested positive for the Bunetanide? Sounds like it wasn’t in the StarCaps. Defense shot to h*ll.
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December 2nd, 2008 at 8:07 am
Starcaps are I believe a weight loss pill. Most of the players are guys that have struggled in the past to keep their weight down. Plus the Bumetine or whatever it is called is apparently a very well known and easily tested for masking agent. The players could have used something different and probably gotten away with it.
Also I wonder if these tests show the concentration of the drug found as well. If there were heavy amounts then I would maybe believe that players were using Bumetine with the backup plan of just saying they were using starcaps.
I really do think the NFL needs to take ownership of this whole drug thing though. They need to have an official list of what players CAN take as supplements and make it very clear that anything not on the list is essentially banned, whether it has crap in it or not.
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