After a court ruling Thursday, the NFL can now enforce Ezekiel Elliott’s six-game suspension. A panel of three judges vacated a preliminary injunction that blocked the NFL from imposing Elliott’s suspension and ordered a district court to dismiss the case.
NFL spokesman Joe Lockhart said that Elliott’s suspension would go into effect immediately.
With Thursday’s 2-1 decision from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, the NFL can once again suspend Elliott, but the case may be far from over. Elliott’s lawyers can still file for another temporary restraining order and injunction in New York or refile in Texas, which, if granted, would again block the league from suspending him.
Elliott was suspended in August after a league investigation into allegations of domestic violence found “substantial and persuasive” evidence that he used physical force against Tiffany Thompson. The NFLPA appealed that suspension on behalf of Elliott through a league process, but a league arbitrator ruled against him. Elliott and the NFLPA turned to the legal system and argued against the NFL’s appeal process in a lawsuit. Judge Amos Mazzant III of the U.S. District Court of Eastern Texas granted a temporary restraining order and issued a preliminary injunction to block the suspension, which meant that Elliott could play until the legal issues were resolved. Thursday’s verdict overruled Mazzant’s decision and the NFL can now enforce the suspension.
The Cowboys, who sit at 2-3 on the season, are on bye this week but head to San Francisco in Week 7 to play the 49ers. Elliott has carried the ball 105 times for 393 yards (3.7 yards per attempt) and two touchdowns in five games this season.
