The NFL announced a six-game suspension of Ezekiel Elliott on Friday due to a violation of the league’s Personal Conduct Policy.
Elliott has three days to appeal the suspension, which it appears he will. If he changes his mind and doesn’t appeal, the 2016 NFL rushing champion will miss games against the Giants, Broncos, Cardinals, Rams, Packers, and 49ers.
While the games against Los Angeles and San Francisco are very winnable games, everything else is up in the air.
The alleged lack of evidence against Elliott and possibly seeing a season go up in smoke seem to have Jones ready to blow his stack, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
When the NFL opted to suspend Tom Brady four games for being generally aware of a plot to deflate footballs, Jones was among those in support of the commissioner’s office doing their thing to the Patriots.
Now, the tables have turned. Jones is faced with the prospect of potentially going through a prolonged court battle with the league if any pro-Elliott action is taken over the collective bargaining agreement.
Ultimately, this would probably turn into something similar to that of the Brady case. In other words, did the league act properly and have the right to suspend Elliott?
In order to clear Elliott’s name, Jones will have to jump into a far deeper pool than Patriots owner Robert Kraft did during the Deflategate saga.
Regardless of whether you love or hate the Patriots, indisputably, the matter of domestic violence is far more important and relevant than PSI in a football. Even though it may be under the guise and prism of battling over the CBA, the issues at hand in the Elliott situation are a pretty big elephant in the room.
If Jones goes all in to support Elliott and is proven wrong through the league’s evidence, then it will be a terrible look for the newly-minted Hall of Famer.
This could develop into a high stakes game of chicken much like the Brady drama did over two years ago. As we found out, the NFL can be very persuasive in the courts to get their way. Of course, they forced Brady to fold his hand after an ugly and bitter fight.
Whereas there is something somewhat hilarious about a multi-million dollar operation spending millions on an investigation over ball deflation, there is absolutely nothing comical about Elliott’s situation.
Mr. Jones has some thinking to do. If he supports Elliott, he better be damn sure it is a fight that he can win.
It took the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history for the Patriots and their fanbase to get some sense of closure after a 500-day plus battle.
Jones and the Cowboys brass better be prepared for that type of fight if they want this knocked down or removed altogether.
Going to court with the NFL is an option that will not yield many winners…if any.
