Dallas Cowboys Running Back Ezekiel Elliott is facing the possibility of a “short suspension” according to Adam Schefter of ESPN, who broke the story earlier today.
The Columbus County District Attorney’s office declined to charge Elliott in the alleged incident, which took place on July 22, 2016. Instagram photos were posted to the account of a woman who claimed to be Elliott’s ex-girlfriend and the photos showed several bruises on her knee, arms and neck. The caption of the photos contained an allegation that she was abused for months, and that “it finally got out of control to where I was picked up and thrown across the room by my arms. Thrown into walls. Being choked to where I have to gasp for breath. Bruised everywhere, mentally and physically abused.”
“It finally got out of control to where I was picked up and thrown across the room by my arms. Thrown into walls. Being choked to where I have to gasp for breath. Bruised everywhere, mentally and physically abused.”
The NFL has a history of inconsistently punishing domestic violence amongst its players. A majority of domestic violence violations are punished with about a 1.5 game suspension. The NFL released a new Personal Conduct Policy on December 10, 2014.
An example of this inconsistent enforcement is the handling of New York Giants kicker Josh Brown, who was initially suspended for one game without pay for violating the league’s personal conduct policy. At the time of suspension, Brown was still allowed to participate in preseason games and practices. The league did not announce what Brown had done in violation of the policy.
It turned out that Brown was arrested in May 2015 on a misdemeanor domestic violence charge. He was booked into jail and released on $2,000 bond. The New York Giants released Josh Brown days after authorities in Washington state released letters and journal entries in which the veteran kicker admitted to abusing his wife. His wife, Molly Brown, didn’t speak to NFL investigators during their 10-month investigation that led to Josh Brown’s one-game ban without pay.
The female who is accusing Elliott filed a report with the Columbus Police Department saying she was assaulted by Elliott. She claimed that he was her former live-in boyfriend. The officers who responded to the scene say the woman claims she had pain in her wrist and a red mark but declined medical treatment.
Columbus Police then contacted Elliott who denied striking the woman. He also said he never lived with her. According to the report, the officers also spoke with 4 witnesses but they all said that they didn’t see an assault. One of the witnesses was in the car at the time of the alleged incident.
Text messages proved she was lying.
It remains to be seen if a suspension will actually come from this, and if so how many games will Elliott be forced to miss because of an incident in which he was not arrested or legally charged for. According to the NFL Conduct policy, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has the authority to suspend a player or employee of any NFL team without an arrest or being found guilty in a court of law.
While criminal activity is clearly outside the scope of permissible conduct, and persons who engage in criminal activity will be subject to discipline, the standard of conduct for persons employed in the NFL is considerably higher. It is not enough simply to avoid being found guilty of a crime. Instead, as an employee of the NFL or a member club, you are held to a higher
standardPersons who fail to live up to this standard of conduct are guilty of conduct detrimental and subject to discipline, even where the conduct itself does not result in conviction of a crime.
Discipline may be imposed in any of the following circumstances” Criminal offenses including, but not limited to, those involving: the use or threat of violence domestic violence and other forms of partner abuse
It is difficult to say what is happening right now and that is the reason why no one trusts the NFL.