Harold Henderson has been designated as the hearing officer in Ezekiel Elliott’s appeal, according to Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (Twitter links). This may be a good sign for Elliott as Henderson was the officer who reduced Greg Hardy’s suspension from ten games to four in 2015. 
[RELATED: Hearing Date Likely Set For Elliott]
Elliott’s team is expected to try and poke holes in the story of ex-girlfriend Tiffany Thompson, who may have been less-than-forthcoming about one of the encounters in question. Thompson has said that Elliott was physically abusive towards her and NFL investigators are in agreement after viewing photographic evidence from the period in question. Elliott’s camp will argue that the allegations were fabricated by a scorned lover, a route that the NFL is not too pleased with:
“Over the past few days we’ve received multiple reports of the NFLPA spreading derogatory information to the media about the victim in Ezekiel Elliott’s discipline case,” the NFL said in a statement. “It’s a common tactic to attempt to disprove the innocence of the accused by discrediting the victim – in this case Ms. Thompson – when coming forward to report such abuse. Common or not, these tactics are shameful. Efforts to shame and blame victims are often what prevent people from coming forward to report violence and/or seek help in the first place.”
Elliott’s case will likely be heard on August 29th.
Ludicrous. Come forward? She came forward and the prosecutor declined to prosecute. Given that most prosecutors, for good reason, err on the side of caution when it comes to prosecuting DV (e.g. they will prosecute even questionable cases), I find it really hard to believe the NFL has some sort of smoking gun.
You got it backwards. They only prosecute cases they’re almost certain they’ll win. Losing a case looks bad on your record
This whole thing is absolutely sickening!! If I wasnt a Cowboys fan, I’d want Zeke to retire right now and sue goodell and the nfl for a billion dollars! IDC what the odds are on winning but just to make them go through it, the same way they make players go through it, even if the courts and DA dont prosecute them!
I just don’t know how a organization of the NFLs magnitude can suspend a guy for half a season when he wasn’t even arrested by actual authorities and they take it into there own hands. It’s crazy considering some of the actual criminals that continue to have careers