“I understand from media reports today that the NFL has announced a suspension based on a specimen that the NFL acknowledges did not contain steroids or any illegal substance,” Williams says in a statement forwarded to PFT by his lawyer, Peter Ginsber. “Instead, the NFL contends that I provided a non-human specimen. I have never failed a test of any kind – for steroids or illegal substances – during my eight-year pro career. I am proud of my record and proud of the way in which I conduct myself as a professional athlete and citizen. We proved — conclusively — at the NFL hearing on this matter that the NFL and its specimen collector wholly failed in their duties to safeguard and process my specimen properly. In fact, the specimen collector was fired by the NFL after compromising my specimen as well as others’. The hearing officer, an NFL executive, ignored the NFL’s own Policy, engaged in inappropriate communications with top NFL officials about this matter without my knowledge or approval, corrupted the system, ignored that my specimen had been compromised, and now has subjected me to humiliation as well as suspension. We will be vigorously pursuing my rights in the judicial system. My suspension is unjust; the NFL has undermined and corrupted its own steroid policy.”
