HENDERSON WILL HEAR ELLIOTT’S APPEAL

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell tapped former league executive Harold Henderson to hear Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott’s six-game appeal, the NFL announced Wednesday. Goodell, under terms of the personal conduct policy that Elliott was found to have violated due to domestic violence accusations, had the authority to hear the appeal, scheduled for Aug. 29. Instead, it will be Henderson’s decision to uphold, reduce or vacate the suspension, which was announced last Friday. “It’s the safest way out for Goodell,” sports business attorney Daniel Wallach told USA TODAY Sports. “Otherwise, this could quickly devolve into another Deflategate.” Henderson has served as an appeals officer since 2008. In years past, Henderson heard the appeals of running back Adrian Peterson and defensive Greg Hardy. Henderson upheld Peterson’s indefinite ban over child abuse accusations, which ultimately was overturned in the courts. He reduced Hardy’s ban after his domestic violence arrest from 10 games to four. In other developments Wednesday, the NFL called out the NFL Players Association after saying it had received reports of the union “spreading derogatory information” to media outlets about the woman whose claims of domestic violence led to Elliott’s suspension. The NFLPA responded by saying it had not engaged in such tactics.