It’s going to be a hard sell for big and burly professional football players to convince anyone that they only took a product that is marketed as a weight loss drug for middle-aged women. The model on the company’s home page (www.starcaps.com) brings back memories of Mae West, for Christ’s sake! (No offense, Nikki Haskell)

StarCaps even had to put a disclaimer on their website and “temporarily suspend shipping” due to the lawsuit. Now, I totally understand that these players are just covering their asses by blaming the product, but the fact remains that a diuretic such as this is also used as a masking agent for steroids, more specifically, the banned substance bumetanide.

What may be an important piece of evidence is that Dr. John Lombardo (the Steroid Policy’s Independent Administrator) was aware of StarCaps containing bumetanide back in 2006, but failed to inform NFL players because he did not want to line up their excuse for them if they were caught using a masking agent.

Three players on the New Orleans Saints (Duece McAllister, Will Smith and Charles Grant), two Minnesota Vikings (Kevin Williams, Pat Williams) and one Atlanta Falcon (Grady Jackson) all failed drug screening tests for bumetanide. All but Jackson, who has already served his suspension, can miss four games each if found guilty. They have filed appeals with the league and are awaiting hearings.