Ezekiel Elliott - Pro Football Rumors

Latest On Ezekiel Elliott

August 31st, 2017 at 8:51pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The NFL handed Cowboys star Ezekiel Elliott a six-game suspension stemming from domestic violence allegations earlier this month, but the league’s director of investigations, Kia Roberts, recommended no ban for the running back, Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.

Roberts’ decision came after interviewing Tiffany Thompson, Elliott’s ex-girlfriend who accused him in June 2016 of committing physical violence against her on multiple occasions. Despite Roberts’ key role in the investigation, her suggestion didn’t make it into the NFL’s final report and its suspension letter, notes Hill. Further, Roberts wasn’t present during a commissioner Roger Goodell-led meeting that centered on potential disciplinary measures for Elliott, Hill adds.

Senior vice president of investigations Lisa Friel was among those in attendance with Goodell, and it was Friel who advised a six-game suspension to the commissioner, according to Hill. The fact that Goodell ultimately did hand down that penalty to Elliott left Cowboys owner Jerry Jones “furious,” in part because he expected Elliott to elude punishment. A top official with the NFL informed Jones that the league would not discipline Elliott, Hill relays.

Elliott appealed his suspension this week during a hearing that spanned three days and over 25 hours, and his side testified that Friel banned Roberts from the aforementioned meeting, Hill reports. Roberts, who was also on hand, testified Tuesday that she was the only league employee to interview Thompson, according to Dan Graziano of ESPN.com. Roberts also confirmed that she would not have recommended discipline for Elliott had she been part of the decision-making committee – one that Hill reports consisted of former New Jersey attorney general Peter Harvey, Pro Football Hall of Famer Ken Houston, chief executive of the Women of Color Network Inc. Tonya Lovelace and former U.S. attorney and ex-chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission Mary Jo White. Friel provided testimony on Wednesday and corroborated that of Roberts, Graziano writes.

Hill contends the hearing went well for Elliott’s camp, noting that the league lacks solid proof that he abused Thompson. Both that and the NFL’s unwillingness to listen to Roberts would not bode well for the league in federal court, Hill posits. Elliott could file a lawsuit against the league if hearing officer Harold Henderson doesn’t overturn or reduce the suspension, and Graziano suggests that the NFLPA is ready to fight in court if necessary. Henderson is reportedly “under pressure” to make a decision by Monday.

Ezekiel Elliott Decision To Come On Monday?

August 31st, 2017 at 12:49pm CST by Zachary Links

Finally, we could be getting some closure in the Ezekiel Elliott case. Harold Henderson, the appeals officer in the Elliott hearing, is under pressure to reach a decision by Monday, a source tells ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter).

The Cowboys are operating under the belief thatElliott will play in the season opener if a ruling doesn’t come by Tuesday at 3pm, David Moore of the Dallas Morning News tweets. That could explain why the league is pushing Henderson to wrap things up by Monday.

Of course, if Elliott doesn’t have his suspension overturned or reduced, he may still take his battle to the legal system. It has been reported that Elliott is furious over his six-game ban and is vowing to fight the league on it until he has exhausted all options.

On Wednesday, Elliott personally spoke on the domestic abuse allegations against him. Thursday’s portion of the hearing included analysis from a doctor who has analyzed photos of the alleged victim’s injuries. The multi-day hearing has now concluded and it’s time for Henderson to reach his verdict.

If Elliott does not have the suspension overturned or trimmed down, he will miss games against the Giants, Broncos, Cardinals, Rams, Packers, and 49ers.

Latest On Ezekiel Elliott’s Suspension Appeal

August 30th, 2017 at 2:35pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Ezekiel Elliott‘s appeal of his six-game suspension will last through Thursday as the Cowboys running back fights a ban stemming from domestic violence allegations. Elliott could still suit up for Week 1 if he files a lawsuit against the NFL, but for now, the appeal hearing will proceed.

Here’s the latest on Elliott and the proceedings:

Tuesday’s session was spent sorting through the evidence relating to the domestic violence claims and listening to investigators, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. Elliott himself will speak on Wednesday, and it appears most of today will be dedicated to hearing from the Cowboys back. Thursday, meanwhile, will witness a doctor analyzing photos of the alleged victim’s injuries.
If Elliott and his team believed arbitrator Harold Henderson were truly a neutral judge, they’d have “incredible optimism” about what occurred at Tuesday’s hearing, according to Josina Anderson of ESPN.com (Twitter links). However, Henderson was hired by the NFL, so Elliott has understandable skepticism regarding Henderson’s motives. A source tells Anderson that “things happened that were amazingly good for [Elliott’s] side,” although that report should be taken with a grain of salt given that it’s coming from Elliott’s camp.
“Enormous inconsistencies” emerged on Tuesday regarding the NFL’s investigative process, adds Anderson (Twitter links). On the other side of the hearing, Anderson questioned while Elliott didn’t make a definitive denial through his attorneys or via his own statement, and was told Elliott has “said it enough before.”
While the hearing was originally scheduled for only two days, it’s been extended because the NFL will allow a witness that was initially rebuffed to testify by phone, reports Dan Graziano of ESPN.com. The NFLPA requested that witness be allowed to communicate via phone, although the identity of said witness is unclear at present.

NFC Notes: Donald, Brees, Elliott

August 29th, 2017 at 7:45pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

It’s “probably a safe assumption” the Rams will play their Sept. 10 season opener without defensive tackle Aaron Donald if he doesn’t end his holdout this week, general manager Les Snead told Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.com and other reporters Tuesday (Twitter links here). The executive added that the Rams have tried to “come up with creative scenarios” regarding Donald’s contract in their negotiations with the back-to-back first-team All-Pro. Snead otherwise didn’t have much to offer regarding Donald, admitting that he doesn’t know if the 26-year-old will report without having received a new deal. As of now, it appears the Rams will at least go without Donald when they take on the Colts in Week 1.

The latest on a couple other NFC franchises:

Saints quarterback Drew Brees said Tuesday that he texted “Wow” to agent Tom Condon after Lions signal-caller Matthew Stafford signed a five-year, $135MM extension Monday (via Mike Triplett of ESPN.com). Stafford’s deal will pay him $27MM per year – a figure the highly accomplished Brees could rival when he signs a new pact in the next eight months or so. Of course, the 38-year-old Brees’ age will prevent him from approaching Stafford’s pact in length or total value. Brees, who’s on the one-year, $24.25MM extension he signed last summer, has indicated that he won’t worry about his next contract until after the season.
Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott‘s appeal hearing with the NFL regarding his six-game suspension will last through Thursday, Adam Schefter reports (Twitter links). Final briefs are due Friday, notes the Washington Post’s Mark Maske, who adds that a ruling probably won’t come until next week.
Saints cornerback Delvin Breaux is likely to begin the season on injured reserve and come off IR later in the year, Herbie Teope of NOLA.com writes. Breaux, who fractured his fibula in mid-August, won’t be eligible to return until Week 9 if he does head to IR. Teams are allowed to designate two players to return from IR during the season. Meanwhile, it’s possible left tackle Terron Armstead will avoid spending the first six weeks of the season on the reserve/physically unable to perform list because he “might be ready earlier” than that time frame, head coach Sean Payton said Tuesday. Armstead went down with a torn labrum in mid-June and is currently on the active/PUP list.

Latest On Ezekiel Elliott

August 29th, 2017 at 5:05pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott‘s appeal of his six-game suspension will last into a second day, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (on Twitter). Elliott, who’s fighting a ban stemming from domestic violence allegations, faced off with the NFL on Tuesday, but there’s “no end in sight,” per Rapoport.

While Elliott may miss the first six games of the season, there’s actually a strong chance he’ll be on the field for the Cowboys’ opener against the NFC East rival Giants, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk says (Twitter link via Rob Guerrera of NBC Sports Radio). Elliott suiting up for Week 1 will occur if he files a lawsuit against the league, which Florio expects to happen.

One issue Elliott’s camp continues to have is an inability to access to the notes from Tiffany Thompson’s interviews with the league, Josina Anderson of ESPN tweets. Thompson, Elliott’s ex-girlfriend who accused him of domestic violence on June 22, 2016, has credibility issues, according to the running back. However, hearing officer Harold Henderson barred Elliott’s side from including her interviews with the league in the appeal hearing. Regardless, Elliott’s team has to explain how she suffered bruising during the week of June 22, 2016. Their contention is that “virtually all of the alleged victim’s injuries were outside the timeline,” Anderson reports (on Twitter).

The notion of Elliott’s suspension being delayed until next season if he doesn’t achieve the desired result during the appeal process has come up in recent days, and it doesn’t seem that Tuesday’s events have closed the door on that possibility.

Latest On Ezekiel Elliott’s Appeal Effort

August 28th, 2017 at 6:05pm CST by Sam Robinson

Ezekiel Elliott will be away from the Cowboys on Tuesday in order to face off with the NFL at his appeal hearing. But it sounds like the running back’s side knows it’s up against a fight it might not win in this setting.

However, Elliott’s camp and the NFLPA are prepared to fight this further. If the second-year back’s suspension is upheld, Elliott’s defense team and the union are likely going to file a lawsuit against the NFL, Charles Robinson of Yahoo.com reports.

The parties battling the NFL in this latest case are looking to challenge the league in court on a procedural violation they believe occurred, Robinson reports. The exact violation these groups believe the NFL committed is not known, but Robinson reports they are related to the NFL’s arranging of this appeal.

Elliott’s defense team wanted Roger Goodell to select an arbiter other than Harold Henderson, a former league exec whom the union does not view as independent, and wanted to make the running back’s accuser available for cross examination. Henderson denied each of these requests while also dismissing Elliott’s camp’s push to make Tiffany Thompson’s notes and six interviews with investigators available during this process.

The union and the armada of attorneys representing Elliott — one that now includes longtime NFL legal adversary Jeffrey Kessler — believe they have enough working against them here to make the case a procedural violation occurred, Robinson notes. A procedural violation helped Tom Brady and the union sue the NFL in 2015, and it ended up delaying his four-game Deflategate ban until 2016. This would allow a federal court challenge and delay this process, and ultimately, the suspension while the matter is being sorted out.

Latest On Ezekiel Elliott

August 25th, 2017 at 10:55am CST by Zachary Links

It sounds like Ezekiel Elliott may be fighting an uphill battle in his appeal. Hearing officer Harold Henderson has refused to require the NFL to make alleged victim Tiffany Thompson available, a source tells Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk (Twitter link). Henderson has also barred her notes and interviews from inclusion in the hearing, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter) hears.

Based on the details of the case that have leaked over the last couple of weeks, it sounds like Elliott’s team is looking to raise questions about Thompson’s credibility and motives. Without being able to discuss her interviews, Elliott’s representatives might not be able to highlight her potentially bogus allegations of a domestic assault on July 22, 2016. NFL investigators have already acknowledged that Thompson was not entirely truthful about the events that transpired on that day.

Even if Thompson fabricated the events of 6/22, Elliott will still have to explain the bruises that Thompson was left with after other alleged arguments they had on the same week. When that time comes, he’ll be defending himself in person and not telephonically, Rapoport hears (Twitter link).

Elliott will miss practice on Monday and Tuesday in order to attend the appeal hearing.

Albert Breer On Elliott, Bills, Rams, Watkins

August 22nd, 2017 at 1:27pm CST by Zachary Links

The NFL and the NFLPA were at odds last week over a purported leak in the Ezekiel Elliott saga. When the press learned that ex-girlfriend Tiffany Thompson thought about blackmailing the Cowboys running back with a sex tape, the league pegged the union as the source. The NFL wasn’t just guessing – Albert Breer of The MMQB was told that the league was explicitly told that the union was responsible for the leaks.

The leak especially irked the NFL because the league office believed that certain facts were cherry-picked to paint Thompson as the villain. For example, Thompson told league investigators that she realized it would be “crazy” to go through with the blackmail plot.

It sounds like things are only going to get uglier from here as we look ahead to Elliott’s appeal hearing. As of this writing, Elliott is slated to serve a six-game suspension for the allegations of domestic abuse.

Here’s more from Breer’s column:

Although Doug Whaley was technically in charge for the Bills‘ draft this year, Breer hears that coach Sean McDermott was given carte blanche to pull players off of the board for character reasons. That could help to explain this month’s surprising move to jettison wide receiver Sammy Watkins and cornerback Ronald Darby via trade. Darby came into the league with some red flags and his performance has dipped since his strong rookie season in 2015. Watkins, meanwhile, didn’t have character issues, but his lingering injury problems could have posed a hurdle for the first-year head coach. Brandon Beane now holds the GM title, but McDermott may have been the real driving force behind the trades.
The Rams‘ interest in Watkins is nothing new. Breer hears that the wide receiver was a real consideration for GM Les Snead & Co. in 2014 before the team settled on offensive lineman Greg Robinson at No. 2 overall. The jury is still out on whether Watkins can live up to his draft status, but he has certainly done better than Robinson. Years later, Snead is hoping that Watkins can stay healthy and become a superstar for his squad.

Latest On Ezekiel Elliott

August 16th, 2017 at 4:45pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

Last September, when the NFL was investigating domestic violence allegations Tiffany Thompson made against Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott, she expressed a desire to blackmail him, Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports reports. Thompson and her friend had a text messaging exchange in which the former noted that she was considering selling sex videos of herself and Elliott. When the friend suggested leveraging the videos against Elliott, Thompson replied, “I want to bro.” Thompson also registered the the email address “ezekielelliott sex vids” in August 2016, according to Robinson.

While Elliott is appealing the six-game suspension the NFL handed him last week as a result of its domestic violence investigation, the texts between Thompson and her friend won’t necessarily lead to a shorter punishment for him. There’s nothing in them to disprove Thompson’s accusations against Elliott, for one; further, the league already knew of the texts when it was looking into the case, as it explained in its 160-page report of the investigation that Robinson obtained:

“The League’s forensic experts also recovered evidence from Ms. Thompson’s phone that she had registered an email address titled, “ezekielelliott sex vids” during the month of August, 2016. In addition, a text message with her friend [name withheld by Yahoo] was recovered that showed them talking about their need to make more money and Ms. Thompson raised the idea of selling the sex tapes she had of herself and Mr. Elliott. Her friend [name withheld] said they should blackmail Mr. Elliott with them, they’d be “millionaires”. Ms. Thompson replied that she’d like to but was scared. When Ms. Thompson was asked about this by the League’s investigators, she stated that she did have sex tapes of her and Mr. Elliott on her phone and she did open the email account but she denied doing so to blackmail Mr. Elliott.”

That’s not going to fly for Elliott’s camp, which will use the texts to establish a lack of credibility on Thompson’s part, according to Robinson. Elliott will have the NFLPA on his side, which the league accused on Wednesday of “spreading derogatory information to the media about the victim in Ezekiel Elliott’s discipline case.” The NFLPA issued a response on Twitter, contending that “the League office has a history of being exposed for its lack of credibility.”

Hearing Officer Appointed For Ezekiel Elliott

August 16th, 2017 at 11:00am CST by Zachary Links

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.

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.