Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott’s six-game suspension was upheld by an arbitrator on Tuesday night – yet he’s eligible to play against the New York Giants on Sunday night.
That makes no sense. However, the he-said, she-said mess that has now erupted into a legal tussle that will take months to conclude has never quite made much sense.
Somehow, arbitrator Harold Henderson could not make up his mind on Elliott’s appeal until after a 3 p.m. deadline, meaning Elliott can play on Sunday night. I think the NFL orchestrated the move to guarantee a huge TV audience for NBC.
Elliott’s legal team, which includes St. Louisan Scott Rosenbloom, is seeking an injunction to slap down any suspension until their client can have his day in a federal court. Judge Amos L. Mazzaint III is expected to rule by Friday on the preliminary injunction motion.
Elliott’s attorneys realized Henderson would most likely rubber-stamp the suspension handed down by Commissioner Roger Goodell and released a statement minutes after Henderson announced his opinion.
“We are extremely disappointed with Mr. Henderson’s inability to navigate through legal politics, and follow the evidence, and, most importantly, his conscious. The evidence that Mr. Elliott and his team presented on appeal clearly demonstrated that Mr. Elliott was the victim of a conspiracy orchestrated by the National Football League and its officers to keep exonerating evidence from the decision-makers, including the advisors and Roger Goodell. The only just decision was to overturn the suspension in its entirety. Mr. Elliott is looking forward to having his day in federal court where the playing field will be level and the NFL will have to answer for its unfair and unjust practices.”
We don’t know what is going to happen next, but there are a few things we do know.
We DO know that NFL investigator Kia Roberts recommended that Elliott not be suspended because she did not find his accuser’s stories credible. This was disclosed during Elliott’s appeal of the suspension.
We DO know that Roberts was barred from a meeting with Goodell and others to discuss Elliott’s punishment by Lisa Friel, the senior vice president for investigations.
You can take this for what it is worth, but we DO know that Friel is a devout New York Giants fan whose league office decoration has included portraits of former Giants quarterback Phil Simms and current quarterback Eli Manning.
We DO know that the NFL has countered with its own suit in New York saying Elliott does not have the right to question the NFL’s authority to punish him.
We DO know that Elliott admitted under oath to having used drugs at Ohio State and paying for his former girlfriend/accuser’s abortion.
We DO know that this entire episode is an embarrassment to the NFL, Elliott, Goodell, the Cowboys, Ohio State, John Burroughs School, etc.
A high-five for Howard
The Howard University Bisons left Las Vegas early Sunday with $600,000, a big smile and one of college football’s all-time biggest upsets.
Howard, a 45-point underdog, stunned the University of Nevada-Las Vegas 43-40 on Saturday night and got off to a rousing start under new coach Mike London. London is a former head coach of the University of Virginia and had served as associate head coach/defensive line coach for Maryland before taking the Howard position last January.
He told his team, winners of just three games over the past two years, its motto is “Mission: Possible.”
“One of the best sights that I’ve ever seen – for young men, people involved with the program, to have a sense of satisfaction and a smile of accomplishment on their face,” London said after the game.
“My players, the guys, I’m telling you, they are sky high right now in terms of confidence, in terms of belonging,” London went on. “We talked about how this was a business trip. This wasn’t the old typical I-AA, it’s your money game, and we’re going to be cannon fodder for this team. We came here to win the game, and that’s what happened.”
Howard received $600,000 for the game – and it’s obvious UNLV was expecting a good show – but not from their opponent. The payout would only be earned if the band and cheerleaders made the trip.
Caylin Newton, Cam Newton’s younger brother, surprised many people by choosing to play at Howard.
Newton carried 21 times for 190 yards and two touchdowns, threw for 140 yards and a touchdown and scored a critical two-point conversion early in the fourth quarter to give Howard a 36-33 lead.
After the Rebels regained the lead, Newton dashed in for his second rushing TD of the game and the Bison held off UNLV to secure the upset.
“I mean, coming to Howard, it’s not a football school right now,” Newton said last month. “It will be.”
For a week, at least, Howard is as much a football school as Alabama.
Aaron Rodgers backs Kap
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers told ESPN last week that Colin Kaepernick “should be on a roster,” and that his sitting then kneeling during national anthem last year is why he is out of football.
“I think he should be on a roster right now,” Rodgers said. “I think because of his protests, he’s not.”
Rodgers called Kaepernick’s protest, “peaceful and respectful.”
“I’m gonna stand because that’s the way I feel about the flag – but I’m also 100 percent supportive of my teammates or any fellow players who are choosing not to,” Rodgers said.
“They have a battle for racial equality. That’s what they’re trying to get a conversation started around.
“I think the best way I can say this is: I don’t understand what it’s like to be in that situation. What it is to be pulled over, or profiled, or any number of issues that have happened, that Colin was referencing – or any of my teammates have talked to me about.”
Alvin A. Reid is a panelist on the Nine Network program, Donnybrook, is a weekly contributor to “The Charlie Tuna Show” on KFNS and can also be heard on Frank Cusumano’s “The Press Box.” His Twitter handle is #aareid1.
