DALLAS COWBOYS RUNNING back Ezekiel Elliott has been suspended for six games by the NFL for violating the league’s ‘personal conduct policy’.
Elliott, who ran for 1,631 yards and 16 touchdowns last year in what was his rookie season, had been the subject of a year-long investigation following multiple incidents, including domestic violence accusations made against him by a woman who identified herself to authorities as his former girlfriend.
The woman told police Elliott assaulted her on five separate occasions over the course of a week in July 2016, according to the Columbus (Ohio) City Attorney’s Office. He was never arrested and prosecutors declined to charge him, citing conflicting and inconsistent information.
Elliott has remained steadfast in denying these allegations, and has three days to appeal his suspension.
If the six-game ban stands, the 22-year-old halfback will be ruled out until the Cowboys’ visit to divisional rivals Washington on 29 October.
Under the terms of the NFL’s personal conduct policy, players found by the league to have committed domestic violence are subject to “a baseline suspension without pay of six games,” even if “the conduct does not result in a criminal conviction.”
The policy states: “In cases where a player is not charged with a crime, or is charged but not convicted, he may still be found to have violated the policy if the credible evidence establishes that he engaged in conduct prohibited by this Personal Conduct Policy.”
Robert S. Tobias, principal assistant city attorney in Columbus, stated in an email to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero last year he believed “there were a series of interactions between Mr. Elliott and [his accuser] where violence occurred,” per the NFL’s official website.
Tobias wrote in October: “Given the totality of the circumstances, I could not firmly conclude exactly what happened. Saying something happened versus having sufficient evidence to criminally charge someone are two completely different things.”
The NFL launched its own investigation soon after Elliott’s ex-girlfriend filed a police report last summer. League investigators first interviewed Elliott in October, reconvening with him last month. Elliott and the NFL Players Association turned over phone records and documents related to the case to the league back in May.
The same woman also called police in February of last year, telling officers she was suffering from shoulder pain after Elliott had allegedly pushed her against a wall.
Earlier this year, Elliott was shown in videos and photos pulling down a woman’s shirt and exposing her breast on the roof of a Dallas bar during St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. As recently as last month, the All Pro running back was involved in an incident at another Dallas bar that initially sparked an assault investigation before police suspended their probe.
That incident, however, was not part of the NFL’s completed investigation, as per NFL journalists Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero.
