Earlier today, the NFL officially announced a six-game suspension for Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott for violating the league's personal conduct policy.
While the punishment was aligned with past suspensions for players connected to domestic violence, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was “outraged” by the ruling, believing that Ezekiel wouldn't miss any time.
Elliott's camp was shocked by the severity, and they plan to take action.
Here's the statement from Elliott's representatives, courtesy of NFL.com's Around The NFL staff:
“We just learned of the NFL's decision to suspend Mr. Elliott for six games for allegedly engaging in ‘physical force' against the accuser. Mr. Elliott and his team of representatives are extremely disappointed with the NFL's decision.
“Our offices have been engaged in this matter since last July and have worked hand in hand with the Columbus Prosecutor's office as well as the NFL with their respective investigations. Accordingly, we are fully aware of the full body of evidence that exists in connection with this matter.
“The NFL's findings are replete with factual inaccuracies and erroneous conclusions and it ‘cherry picks' so called evidence to support its conclusion while ignoring other critical evidence.
“For example, both the Columbus Prosecutor's office as well as the NFL investigators expressly concluded and conveyed to our office (and others) that the accuser was lying about an alleged July 22, 2016 incident whereby she accused Mr. Elliott of pulling her out of her car and assaulting her. An allegation that was ultimately undermined by her own friend's affidavit which stated that no such assault occurred. The affidavit also outlined the accuser's plan to orchestrate a story to police to in order to corroborate her false allegation of assault. In addition, the NFL's own medical experts concluded that many of her injuries predated the week in question and likely occurred during a period of time when Mr. Elliott was not in contact with the accuser. During the upcoming weeks and through the appeal a slew of additional credible and controverting evidence will come to light.”
In the statement, Elliott's reps immediately express their displeasure with the league's decision before making it clear that they're fully aware of the evidence the NFL has. They believe the league is ignoring critical evidence while “cherry picking” other information to indict Elliott.
They even cite a particular incident in which Elliott's ex-girlfriend and accuser came up with a “plan to orchestrate a story to police to in order to corroborate her false allegation of assault.”
One thing is clear here: this case is far from over. Expect the appeal process to drag out quite some time, possibly into the season.
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