Three Saints players – Deuce McAllister, Charles Grant and Will Smith have been suspended for four games by the NFL for violation of the league’s policy on anabolic steroids and related substances.

Photo by Bill Haber / The Associated Press

Deuce McAllister

The suspensions end the regular season for the trio. Grant’s season had already ended when he was put on injured reserve. Should the Saints make the playoffs, McAllister and Smith would be eligible to return for those games.

The Saints players had appealed the suspensions claiming that the product they used – a diuretic – did not list any of the banned substances among its ingredients.

The diuretic is on the offending list because it can ‘mask’ or ‘block’ the presence of steroids in the system.

David Cornwell, the lawyer for the three Saints, called the decisions "inconsistent with the objectives of the steroid policy."

"Deuce, Will, and Charles did not try to enhance their performance with steroids, nor did they knowingly expose themselves to the adverse health risks of a diuretic," Cornwell said in an e-mail. "They took a weight loss supplement that they had every reason to believe was safe."

In their appeals, some players said the banned substance Bumetanide was not listed as an ingredient in StarCaps, an over-the-counter weight-loss pill.

“You and you alone are responsible for what goes into your body,” the NFL policy has always stated, according to a league release.

The league’s policy said exceptions are not made and that a player takes any substance at his own risk.