Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott, the NFL’s best rusher as a rookie last season, has been banned without pay for six games for breaking the league’s personal conduct policy.
After a year-long inquiry, the NFL made its decision after analyzing Elliott’s behavior over a six-day period in July 2016, during which his ex-girlfriend Tiffany Thompson accused him of beating her five times in Columbus, Ohio, where he played at Ohio State. Elliott was not arrested or charged because prosecutors determined that Thompson’s allegations contradicted those provided by Elliott and witnesses. Nonetheless, the league continued to reprimand him.
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The NFL’s letter to Elliott also mentioned an incident during a St. Patrick’s Day parade in March, when Elliott pulled down a woman’s top and exposed her breast, as reflecting “a lack of respect for women” and indicating a “pattern of poor judgment and behavior.”
He can file an appeal within three days. If he does not appeal, his suspension will begin on September 2. If he serves the entire six games, he can rejoin the Cowboys on October 23.
The ban raises the risk of the league starting the season without a star player due to disciplinary action. Last year, Tom Brady, the New England Patriots quarterback, received a four-game suspension for his role in the “Deflategate” scandal, in which footballs were tampered with during a playoff game in 2016.
This time, one of the league’s most influential owners, the Cowboys’ Jerry Jones, might go off against the league’s commissioner, Roger Goodell.
Jones has frequently supported Elliott, 22, lately stating that his investigation of the case revealed “nothing — that had anything to do with domestic violence.”
According to an N.F.L. statement, Todd Jones, the league’s special counsel for conduct, informed Elliott in a letter that the league’s group of advisers “were of the view that there is substantial and persuasive evidence supporting a finding that [Elliott] engaged in physical violence against Ms. Thompson on multiple occasions during the week of July 16, 2016.”
