A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE
NFL sends message to rushing king Ezekiel Elliott with six-game domestic violence penalty.
Three years after coming under intense scrutiny and withering criticism for its handling of domestic violence cases involving several prominent players, the NFL handed out one of its harshest penalties to one of its biggest on-field standouts Friday. The league suspended Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott for the first six games of the regular season without pay for a pair of incidents involving women.
The penalty was imposed by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell after a lengthy process in which league investigators interviewed Elliott’s former girlfriend multiple times, according to a person familiar with the case, and in which Goodell received input from four outside advisers.
The NFL interviewed more than a dozen witnesses, according to the person familiar with the case. League investigators studied thousands of text messages, more than were available to Columbus, Ohio, law enforcement officials who first investigated the claims by Elliott’s former girlfriend of a violent incident in the summer of 2016. The league also relied on material made publicly available online by authorities in Columbus and had experts analyze pictures to determine when they were taken.
“The conclusions were not based on he said, she said,” the person with knowledge of the investigation said. “It was an analysis of the evidence.”
Elliott was accused of what the NFL’s letter to him about the disciplinary measures called “multiple instances of physical violence” against his then-girlfriend in July 2016 in Columbus. Elliott was not arrested or charged with a crime.
According to a copy of the letter from B. Todd Jones, the NFL’s chief disciplinary officer, to Elliott, obtained by The Washington Post, the punishment also covers another incident. While watching a St. Patrick’s Day parade in March in Dallas, Elliott “pulled down the shirt of a young woman, exposing and touching her breast,” the NFL’s letter said. “This incident was captured on video and posted on social media. Again, no arrest was made nor was a complaint filed by the young woman.”
No other incidents involving El- liott, including recent allegations about his involvement in a scuffle in a Dallas bar, factored into his punishment, according to the person with knowledge of the investigation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic.
“It didn’t factor into aggravating circumstances,” the person said. “It didn’t have any impact on discipline.”
The six-game suspension represents the baseline penalty for a domestic violence offence under the terms of the NFL’s revised personal conduct policy. That policy was rat- ified in December 2014 on the heels of that year’s controversies over cases involving Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson and Greg Hardy. Elliott is , by far, the highest-profile player to be given such a punishment since the policy was reworked.
Elliott, the NFL’s leading rusher last season as a rookie, can appeal the penalty. The appeal would be heard and resolved by Goodell or a person appointed by him, under the league’s disciplinary procedures.
Awritten statement released by Elliott’s representatives to media outlets suggested that Elliott will appeal, saying: “During the upcoming weeks and through the appeal a slew of additional credible and controverting evidence will come to light.”
Elliott would lose just under $559,193 (U.S.) if the suspension stands, or six-seventeenths of his 2017 salary of a little more than $1.584 million.
The NFL Players Association said in a written statement: “We are reviewing the decision and have been in touch with Ezekiel and his representatives to consider all options.”
The NFLPA repeatedly challenged the league, both through the appeals process and in court, in cases under the personal conduct policy, including the infamous Deflategate case that resulted in the four-game suspension of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.
The issue is likely to be addressed in the sport’s next collective agreement. The current contract runs through 2020.