Elliott appeal case confounds
NFL again bogged down by legalities
It was a good news, bad news type of Tuesday for Ezekiel Elliott.
The NFL’s reigning rushing champion can suit up when his Dallas Cowboys open the season Sunday against the New York Giants. But Week 2 is no sure bet. Harold Henderson upheld the six-game suspension of Elliott for alleged domestic violence, with the ban set to begin next week — barring other developments. Elliott’s case likely won’t be re
solved until he exhausts his legal options, which included the move Tuesday that was seemingly a judicial version of a Hail Mary pass.
Five days before the opener, Elliott was in an East Texas courtroom, flanked by NFL Players Association attorneys seeking a temporary restraining order (TRO) that would block the suspension that Henderson, the arbitrator assigned by the league to hear the appeal, upheld. Judge Amos Mazzant won’t
rule on the TRO until Friday. But during Tuesday’s proceedings at Paul Brown Federal Court in Sherman, NFL attorneys revealed that Elliott would be able to play Sunday.
Score one for the NFLPA, which filed for the TRO last week after Elliott’s three-day appeal hearing. The NFL contended the case was premature — that a suspension that hadn’t been confirmed couldn’t be blocked as the case wasn’t ripe yet.
The NFLPA, though, hedged its bets that Henderson, a former league executive who once headed its powerful labor committee, would somehow rule in a fashion that doesn’t suit the union — conceivably anything short of vacating the suspension.
Henderson, though, undoubtedly will defend his ruling on the results of the NFL’s 13-month investigation into Elliott — all of which will be battled further in courtrooms.
Got all that?
(And here there are probably countless NFL fans who just want to know Elliott’s long-term status for their fantasy football teams.)
What a way to build hype for a new season.
With the NFL’s process for discipline again under attack, this case could drag out for weeks or even months. In other words, more courtrooms and deeper analysis of Article 46 in the collective bargaining agreement between the league and union.
It’s striking, though, that for all the focus on the courts and another legal showdown between the NFL and the NFLPA — not to mention the impact on the Cowboys, who have been staunch in their support of their star — the alleged domestic violence issues at the root of the suspension are overshadowed. Elliott has denied the allegations amid questions of his accuser’s credibility and motives.
Yet Commissioner Roger Goodell, trying to execute the tougher domestic violence policy instituted after the Ray Rice fiasco, hinged his decision to suspend Elliott largely on the opinion of two doctors who concluded to the existence, nature and perhaps causes of the accuser’s bruises.
In concluding that Elliott was involved in multiple alleged incidents, though, the NFL lost points with its process. It’s one thing to implement a policy with discipline extending beyond the judicial system. But without basic protections to ensure fairness for the defendant, which fuels the NFLPA’s defense of its constituents, the policy suffers from a credibility gap.
Still, the hits on the NFL notwithstanding, Elliott might be the biggest loser, even if he scores upset victories with his legal strategies. Although he has denied the allegations of domestic violence, his reputation has taken a severe blow.
During an interview with NFL investigators, he admitted using drugs. While his accuser was caught in various lies, Elliott was found not to be entirely truthful as well.
In short, it was such a messy relationship — now so publicly exposed — with no easy resolution in sight.