As was revealed yesterday, Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott lost his injunction against the NFL’s suspension and will now have to seek new legal remedies to keep playing. Elliott and the NFLPA will likely file for a new injunction as their lawsuit moves from Texas to New York, meaning nothing is certain yet about when or even if Elliott will ever have to sit out the six games.
To be clear, I want Elliott to keep fighting.
I want Zeke to win this war. But if his camp believes they’re only delaying the inevitable and have little chance of true victory, then the outcome may ultimately hurt the Cowboys and Zeke himself. If the six games will be missed at some point, then right now appears to be the best time for it.
Consider where we are in the Cowboys’ season. They still have 11 games to go and then hopefully the playoffs.
Here is what’s left of the Cowboys’ 2017 schedule:
- @ San Francisco
- @ Washington
- Kansas City
- @ Atlanta
- Philadelphia
- L.A. Chargers
- Washington
- @ N.Y. Giants
- @ Oakland
- Seattle
- @Philadelphia
If Ezekiel Elliott serves the suspension immediately, he will miss weeks 7-12.
There are a couple of very beatable teams there in the 49ers and Chargers; teams that Dallas should be able to handle even with Alfred Morris at running back. There are two games that Dallas might have trouble winning even with Zeke; the undefeated Chiefs and a road game against the Falcons.
A Big Consideration Here is Division Games
Zeke would miss the first 2017 meetings with the Washington Redskins and Philadelphia Eagles, which hurts, but he’d be back for the rematches against all three NFC East opponents in the later part of the season. He’d also be back for tough games against the Oakland Raiders and Seattle Seahawks.
Perhaps the most important issue, though, is that this would ensure Elliott would not miss any playoff games.
The threat of Elliott delaying this suspension just to end up missing postseason action has hung over this entire legal process. There is little way to control when the courts hear and decide cases, meaning you could wind up only pushing the suspension back until the worst possible time.
Again, I want for Zeke to continue to defend his reputation and rights. I want the NFL to pay for their corruption. But I also would hate to see the ultimate outcome of this fight only hurt Elliott and the Cowboys even more than it already has.
As far as I see it, Elliott has already won whatever he’s going to in the court of public opinion. What happens in court now isn’t going to move the needle on the people who support him or believe he was guilty. There is no new evidence to discuss when it comes to Tiffany Thompson’s accusation. People have already decided how they feel about the domestic violence side of this issue.
Even if Elliott decides to stop the fight and accept the suspension, very few are going to take that as an admission of guilt. At this point, the NFL has turned itself into the bad guy.
It’ll look more like Zeke simply couldn’t fight the corrupt system and decided to take his losses.
Something else to consider is does anyone, including Ezekiel Elliott, want this issue to continue into 2018?
Maybe he and the union can keep fighting and eventually push his suspension all the way to weeks 1-6 of the 2018 season. Do we really want another offseason of this cloud hanging over Zeke and the Cowboys?
2018 projects as a major opportunity for the Cowboys to contend for a championship. The young pieces on the defense–who are currently having growing pains–will be in a much better position to compete. Dak Prescott will be in his third season and likely better than ever. The same goes for Elliott.
This ultimately comes down to risk versus reward and the likelihood of victory.
If Elliott’s lawyers and the union truly believe they can win this fight and Zeke never has to miss games, then go ahead and keep fighting. But again, if all we’re doing is delaying the inevitable, then it seems like there is no better time to serve the suspension than now.
I would love for him to take her to court and show everyone the type of person she is. He wins it then turn around and sue the NFL for not giving him a real chance to prove himself.
if i was on zeke’s legal team, i would have pushed for a shorter suspension on conduct detrimental to the league for the st. patricks day episode and for the alleged bar fight, under they conditions they clear his name on the alleged DV charge. take a 2-3 game suspension at the beginning of the season and move forward.
“He won’t miss any playoff games”? When in 2018, this Cowboys team couldn’t find the playoffs with a flashlight and a roadmap. They just blew back to back double digit leads at home vs the Rams and Packers; the defense is too young, this is a transition year for Dallas.
Here’s the thing, if Zeke has to serve his suspension, I agree that he should do it now. I’m a die-hard Cowboys fan. I don’t believe our season is over just because Zeke misses 6 games. We have 2 very capable running backs in Darren McFadden and Alfred Morris. The offense would have to adapt. Well be fine.
What a way to trivialize Domestic violence to cover up for ur star player. Love reading these Zeke fluff pieces written by Jones family members and Cowboy fans smh Nobody even arguing that he didn’t beat up a woman jus mad cause he can’t beat the NFL system like he does the legal system thru his MANY off the field transgressions in jus the last year alone. System is far from perfect but at least someone giving him what he deserves. Love how the fan/writer that wrote this BS been fan of the Boys since a very convenient time so I’m glad that the fair weather/band wagon years were short lived and has been many years of misery ever since..ah karma
No, not guilty is exactly the Elliott position. Guilty until proven innocent by the court of public opinion, has already wrecked his endorsements future. He’s 100% entitled to fight a very weak NFL case against him.
I believed the Elliott team could gut the NFL findings, before it’s own case interviewer did it for them. This is a slam dunk when it goes to court, and a prudent judge would table it until the offseason. The uncertainty is already weighing on EE mentally – you can kind of see it in his demeanor.
He has to play this out to vindication IMO, and trust that it will not cause a suspension down the road at a worse time than now. If it does, he at least did everything he could to oppose it.
Jess the way I see it if he were to take the suspension then that to me would be accepting an omission of guilt.If the legal system found nothing to charge him with and the NFL’s lead investigator (a woman) recommended they not pursue the suspension and they basically kicked her thoughts to the curb,then I hope he goes for the jugular and fights them in court big time. This isn’t going to go away until it’s settled in court. I’ve heard several reports & commentators as well as our coaches that they think this is affecting his running and I don’t see how it wouldn’t. As far as the St. Patty’s day incident as immature as it may have come across that young woman thought it was funny and said she didn’t have a problem with it and is most likely why the NFL didn’t bring that up. Zeke has a a lot of maturing to go and hopefully these incidents will wake him up and get him on the right track. He has to realize his school days are over and it’s time to grow up…!