NFL moves to reverse halt on Zeke’s 6-game ban
FRISCO, Texas — The NFL moved quickly Monday in hopes of reversing a federal judge’s decision that has blocked the league’s six-game suspension of star Dallas running back Ezekiel Elliott over a domestic violence case in Ohio.
The league asked the judge who ruled in Elliott’s favor to stop the preliminary injunction that cleared last year’s NFL rushing leader to play while the case is in court. A notice of appeal was also filed with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.
The NFL’s latest filings came about 12 hours after Elliott rushed for 104 yards in the Cowboys’ 19-3 season-opening win over the Gi- ants at home Sunday night.
“Just relieved from the fact that I finally get a fair trial,” Elliott said after the game in his first public comments since before the Cowboys reported for training camp in July. “I finally get a chance to prove my innocence. And I’m just happy I’m able to be with these guys for as long as it’s permitted and just not having to miss time and not being away from them.”
The 22-year-old Elliott was suspended by Commissioner Roger Goodell last month, and attorneys with the NFL Players’ Association contended in a lawsuit that Elliott didn’t get a fair hearing in an appeal that was denied.
Elliott had already been cleared to play in the season opener when U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant III granted a temporary restraining order and injunction blocking the suspension Friday.
The case could play out for months.
New England quarterback Tom Brady’s four-game suspension over “Deflategate” was delayed by a year when a federal judge ruled in his favor. Brady served the suspension to start last season after an appeals court reversed the ruling and backed Goodell’s authority to suspend him.
If Mazzant denies the emergency request to put his own ruling on hold pending further hearings, the NFL could make a similar argument to the appeals court in hopes of getting a hearing within days after Mazzant decides.
Without an NFL win on an emer- gency request in either court, the timeline likely would clear Elliott to play his entire second season after he led the league in rushing as a rookie.
The case apparently will stay in the Texas court for at least a week after Mazzant gave Elliott’s side until Wednesday to respond to the NFL’s request for a stay. The NFL would then have until Friday to respond to arguments from Elliott’s legal team before Mazzant rules on the motion, presumably next week.
“It may be difficult for the NFL to convince the 5th Circuit that this is truly an emergency,” said Gabe Feldman, director of the sports law program at Tulane University Law School. “The argument here is that the NFL could later enforce the suspension.”