On Monday, the NFL filed a motion which will dismiss a NFLPA petition seeking to void Ezekiel Elliott’s six-game suspension. According to A.J. Perez of USA Today, the motion is supposed to dismiss the case in the US District Court. The same news comes from Kate Hairopoulos of the Dallas Morning News. Perez called it “a very expected development.”
Perez posted this on Twitter:
Update: NFL says NFLPA “is wrong as a factual matter” that investigator’s concerns didn’t make report, reach Goodell https://t.co/a9RiXe94FM
— A.J. Perez (@byajperez) 5 September 2017
Meanwhile, Michael McCann of Sports Illustrated mentions the league’s legal victory over Tom Brady, and he posted this on Twitter:
In new court filing, NFL relies on Brady decision, suggests Zeke Elliott should blame NFLPA. My @theMMQB legal take: https://t.co/mU3RYnBvRG pic.twitter.com/7FZ399odM2
— Michael McCann (@McCannSportsLaw) 5 September 2017
Adam Schefter of ESPN previously wrote: “NFLPA filed a temporary restraining order in Texas, calling for the courts to block any suspension upheld by NFL arbitrator Harold Henderson.” Perez also talked about a petition which opposes the restraining order.
Perez summarized the filings from the league after the petition to void the suspension was filed by the NFLPA. He stated that the NFL’s argument was: “Elliott does not have the legal standing to challenge in federal court a six-game suspension over domestic assault allegations.” Perez also pointed out that this has already happened in the past: “The NFL was expected to challenge the NFLPA’s claims much as it did when other players—including New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady—have gone to court over the years to challenge the NFL’s personal conduct policy.”
Gabe Feldman of the Tulane Sports Law Program also went vocal via Twitter.
In the meantime, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, there was a timing element to everything that’s going on with the Dallas Cowboys RB. He wrote:
Elliott was suspended for six games for domestic violence in 2016. In this way, he violated the league’s personal conduct policy even though he disagreed with the suspension. Elliott had filed a 30-page petition in Texas federal court stating that he was victimized by “league-orchestrated conspiracy…to hide critical information,” reported Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. The investigator Kia Roberts’ determined Elliott’s accuser “not credible in her allegations of abuse,” but that information was concealed.
Stay tuned for more details.
