Ohio State fans and alumni held a rally outside Ohio Stadium on Monday to support Urban Meyer, and Ezekiel Elliott’s father was among those who vehemently defended the Buckeyes coach.
Stacy Elliott spoke with members of the media and said he is confident Meyer did an adequate job in handling allegations of domestic abuse against the longest-tenured member of his coaching staff.
Stacy Elliott, father of former #OhioState quarterback Ezekiel Elliott, addresses media outside Ohio Stadium during a rally in support of Coach Urban Meyer. #football #UrbanMeyer #buckeyes pic.twitter.com/Glpt3MdvrU
— Joshua A. Bickel (@joshuabickel) August 6, 2018
“I know Urban Meyer would never condone a woman being abused,” Elliott said. “Those who abuse women need to stop right now, but the truth of the matter based on what we all know is that he handled the situation according to how his job required him to. So to hold him in this situation where he’s got to deal with his emotions — not being with his (players) and representing this university with the utmost integrity — is wrong.”
You may be familiar with Stacy Elliott from when he publicly defended Ezekiel after the Dallas Cowboys star was being investigated for domestic violence a year ago.
Meyer has been placed on paid administrative leave by Ohio State. He initially claimed he had no knowledge of former assistant coach Zach Smith being accused of domestic violence in 2015 and said what was reported about a separate incident from 2009 was inaccurate, but he has since backtracked and said he did report the 2015 allegations. Smith says he never assaulted his ex-wife, though a text message appears to show him admit to strangling her.
