Ezekiel Elliott and the NFLPA decided to take the NFL to court over Elliott’s six-game suspension. On Friday, the player’s association filed several documents unknown to the public before. The NFLPA petition was filed in the Eastern District Court of Texas, and the transcripts of the league investigation into Elliott became available for the first time, together with the transcripts from the arbitration hearing.
During the arbitration hearing in late August, Zeke had to answer questions under oath from NFL lawyer Daniel Nash. Elliott was asked whether he used illegal substances and he replied that he did and that he liked to party in his college days. His ex-girlfriend Tiffany Thompson liked to do the same things, and it was the reason he was with her.
Even though Elliott admitted that he used illegal substances he never failed any tests related to the use at Ohio State. He didn’t specify what kind of illegal substances he used, but Thompson confirmed that there was more than one type. Thompson said to NFL investigator Kia Roberts during a separate interview that she saw Elliott taking substances in Miami training for the NFL Draft.
Even though Roberts heard all that from Thompson, she defended Elliott because she believed Thompson was not a credible witness. Be that as it may, this case has just received bigger proportions and things could get even uglier for Zeke. The player’s association claimed that there’s a “league-orchestrated conspiracy by senior NFL executives … to hide critical information” in this case.
According to the NFLPA lawyer Jeffrey Kessler, the NFL “deliberately omitted a conclusion” made by Roberts at the end of her investigation. Even though Roberts didn’t find Thompson a credible witness in an investigation which lasted for 13 months, that fact is not included in the league’s 160-page report on Elliott’s case. The NFL denied the existence of such conspiracy.
The case is currently in the hands of arbitrator Harold Henderson, and if he doesn’t reduce the suspension or eliminate it, things could get messy. If Zeke is unhappy with the outcome, things will go to court. If that happens, he would be allowed to play if the court grants him an injunction. However, if the injunction isn’t granted, Elliott would start serving his suspension immediately.
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