July 03, 2017
As we noted in our Cowboys dumpster fire piece earlier this week, Cowboys star RB Ezekiel Elliott has been involved in a slew of off-the-field nonsense, most notably a domestic abuse case that the NFL has been investigating for almost a year.
Appearing on SiriusXM Fantasy Football with John Hansen and Adam Caplan on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio, ESPN's Adam Schefter hinted that discipline may be coming Elliott's way. Here's a transcription of Schefter's take on Elliott:
"I would just say this. It is definitely a factor, and if I were drafting today, I would be hesitant to (draft him). But this is a situation that has gone back and forth so many times. I’ve spoken to some people within the league who, during the course of the offseason, got a sense that some form of discipline could happen.
"And then I spoke to somebody last week and they’re like, ‘Yeah, I don’t think anything is going to happen here.’ And then a decision that many people thought would come before the start of the the July 4th weekend on Friday when the NFL usually makes a lot of decisions, hands down some news, I was told that was being pushed back.
"Now why is that being pushed back? Was it being pushed back, actually? Maybe it wasn’t even. But I was told there wasn’t going to be an answer here for a little while, that there was more information. There have been more meetings between either Zeke’s people and the league, or the NFLPA and the league, or whoever. It’s just been an ongoing issue that has had no conclusion. And so, if you’re drafting today, it’s hard to say, ‘Well, nothing’s going to happen there.’
"Nothing may well happen there, but something could happen there. We just don’t know right now. It’s just sort of out there."
The show has a fantasy football focus, but the content of Schefter's words are certainly relevant to the real life 2017 NFL season. While Schefter said enough to cover his butt as any smart reporter without the nut flush will do, he did hint that Elliott will receive some kind of discipline from the league. It's long been assumed no discipline was coming for Elliott, and this is the first time a reporter of note has hinted that it would.
Elliott has been under investigation by the NFL for 11 months now, stemming from an incident, or rather a pattern of alleged abuse over the span of several days in July of 2016, in which Elliott's girlfriend filed a report with police.
In a story for Sports Illustrated from back in December of last year, Tim Rohan gave a thorough explanation of the incident itself, and the process the NFL will undertake to come to a resolution. Obviously, that process is taking an extraordinary amount of time.
While under investigation, Elliott pulled down a woman's shirt during a St. Patrick's Day party, exposing her breast on camera.
Elliott is probably the Cowboys' best player. The longer this investigation drags out, the more of a distraction it will become, and obviously, if indeed the NFL disciplines Elliott in the form of a suspension, that will be a huge loss for however many games he'll miss.
Follow Jimmy on Twitter: @JimmyKempski.
Like Jimmy on Facebook.
Like the new PhillyVoice Sports page on Facebook.
