We all know about drama regarding Ezekiel Elliott six game suspension brought by NFL for violation of the personal conduct policy. But that is not over as Zeke filled an appeal with the support of NFLPA which ultimately resulted in his appearance in the first game of the new season against New York Giants.
Preliminary injunction blocked NFL’s six-game suspension, but the league filed an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. At this point, there is no timetable on when the appeal will be heard, but in case that Judge Amos Mazzant’s decision is overturned there is a possibility for Zeke to be immediately suspended.
Elliott played Sunday game in Cowboys 19-3 victory against New York Giants, and he helped out quite a bit to the squad. In case that Mazzant’s decision is overturned he would be out of the team until November 5. when he would be back in for a duel against Kansas City Chiefs.
There is a good possibility that this process might take a while meaning that Zeke would play an entire season, a similar situation was with Tom Brady and Deflategate scandal. Another option is for the league to ask for an expedited hearing. Just as a reminder, Brady won the first round in the court but later on the four-game suspension has been confirmed by the higher court. This was enforced at the beginning of the 2016 season when he had to sit out four games.
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Immediately after the season opener for Cowboys, Elliott talked to reporters, and this was the first time since June. Related to the case and his suspension he said that he is happy that he will be able to prove his innocence. When it comes to the start of the season, this guy stated that he was “just happy that I’ll get to be with the guys for as long as permitted and not miss time and not having to be away from them.”
[yop_poll id=”1″]In case that you do not know what happened, here is a short recap. In July 2016 in Columbus, Ohio, ex-girlfriend Tiffany Thompson, reported Ezekiel for domestic violence. Because of the inconsistent evidence, the city attorney’s office decided not to pursue charges. NFL decided to suspend Cowboys star running back for six games suggesting that there are strong evidence against this player that he committed violence against his ex.
The first step in the process was to file a complaint, and NFL appeals officer Harold Henderson denied it. On the other hand, Mazzant did accept it, and by doing so, he postponed the penalty. There are few options for Cowboys that could replace Zeke, but none of those can be as productive as this guy.
Elliott was asked about the whole situation and what was the most difficult part of the process. “Just kind of your name getting dragged through the mud. It’s been 14 months. Just kind of being associated with that, that’s tough.” When asked about the process and if it was fair to him, star RB didn’t want to comment but added: “I’ve kind of stopped worrying about it because it’s not in my hands. At this point I’m focused right now on being the running back, I need to be for this team to be successful so we can accomplish what we want to, and remaining focused to keep playing at a high level.”
