Redskins Suspensions Show De Smith and NFL Players Union Have Come out on Top

Washington Redskins Fred Davis and Trent Williams were recently suspended for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy, but the way in which they were suspended reveals a brave new world for the NFL.

The NFL Lockout seems so long ago.

Think back, before Tim Tebow-mania, before the Philadelphia Eagles dreams were shattered, before Ndamukong Suh literally and metaphorically crashed his image. Before all that and before the insane late-summer free agency and trade bonanza, there was no football.

No football...

Back then, fans and pundits went back and forth—playing the blame game, misconstruing actions, guessing at motives and altogether having no idea what the difference between a strike and a lockout really was.

Back then, Albert Breer was able to delight millions, just by the mention that the negotiating parties had brought in dinner.

A large contingent of fans spent that time either deciding who to hate ("millionaires or billionaires") or drumming up a lot of hatred for both parties. Fan groups came out of the woodwork and tried to convince the world this was all about themselves, not about the thousands out of work.

Then, football came back.

Ratings are through the roof again in 2011. One of the owners who cried poor, Wayne Weaver, just sold his team for a huge profit. Electric fan-bases are still crowding stadiums and watching at home. Millions are reading about the NFL on sites like this one. Everyone who promised they would never come back, came back.

So when a story about league and player relations slips through the cracks, it shouldn't surprise anyone, because this horrible injustice "against the fans" has been largely forgotten. It's important to note, however, that just as the NFL is as strong as ever (in terms of ratings and money), the players have come out on top as well.

Fred Davis and Trent Williams shouldn't be playing football again this season. According to the NFL's substance abuse policy, they should be done for a year. In fact, the NFL said they would be done for a year.

Then the union stepped back in and did their job.

No one is excusing substance abuse and no one should; but legally, the NFL had no right to suspend Davis and Williams for a year. One of the positive tests came during a post-lockout grace period negotiated between the two sides.

The NFL either was woefully ignorant of that fact or tried to slip a fast one past the union.

Davis and Williams received four game suspensions in a clear statement to the league that it is no longer "Roger Goodell's way or the highway."

Meanwhile, at the end of Jim Trotter's report on the incident, he drops the related news that Cedric Benson's charge against the NFLPA was dismissed by the National Labor Relations Board.

Not a bad week for De Smith and the NFL Players Union, but it's important to remember that all of this success (and the success for the NFL as a whole in 2011) is due to groundwork laid over the summer months when fans thought Smith was evil and media questioned whether he had the players' best interests in mind.

It should be noted, too, that the players appear to appreciate Smith's hard work. Smith, who did not receive any salary during the NFL lockout or receive a bonus in 2009 or 2010, may receive a $1 million dollar bonus from the players in 2011.

It appears everything turned out all right.

Michael Schottey is an NFL Associate Editor for Bleacher Report and an award-winning member of the Pro Football Writers of America. He has professionally covered both the Minnesota Vikings and the Detroit Lions, as well as NFL events like the scouting combine and the Senior Bowl. Follow him on Twitter.