Things are far from over concerning the suspension of Dallas Cowboys’ Ezekiel Elliott. After a federal court in Texas delayed Elliott’s 6 games suspension, NFL filed an emergency motion on Friday, looking to overrule that decision. According to ESPN, NFL filed its request to 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans asking for an injunction brought by Texas judge Amos Mazzant to be suspended as early as Tuesday, before the Cowboys’ game against Arizona Cardinals. If the ruling isn’t made by Tuesday, the league asks for the decision to be made before the Dallas Cowboys vs. Los Angeles Rams game scheduled for September 26.
After the appeal has made, Elliott’s legal team issued a statement via NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport saying the following:
“The NFL’s latest legal maneuvering appears to be indicative of a league with an agenda: Trying to navigate a public relations crisis rather than focus on fairness and fact finding. The only conclusion that can be drawn is that the NFL believes it can write its own rules and will stop at nothing to further its agenda of enforcing its unfounded assertions regarding Mr. Elliott. Most recently this would include the NFL seeking an expedited hearing on staying the preliminary injunction by frivolously arguing that the NFL is somehow ‘irreparably harmed’ by Elliott playing while the Courts decide whether the investigation and appeal was fundamentally unfair. Mr. Elliott and his team will continue to zealously oppose any of the NFL’s court filings“
After Ezekiel Elliott was accused of domestic violence in July 2016, NFL conducted a yearlong investigation that resulted in 6 games suspension for Cowboys’ running back. NFL Players Association made a request for “for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to prevent the implementation of the six-game suspension” which was granted by Mazzant. The judge ruled that Elliott “did not receive a fundamentally fair hearing”. After NFL’s latest move, it looks like things will become even more heated.
