The NFL delivered a damning letter to Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott outlining three incidents in which the league felt it had “credible evidence” of Elliott using “physical force” against his then-girlfriend.
In the letter sent to Elliott and not made public by the league but obtained by ProFootballTalk, the league details its decision to suspend Elliott for six games, citing three specific incidents in which they felt that they had significant evidence of Elliott becoming violent with Tiffany Thompson. All three of the incidents took place during the week of July 16, 2016.
As part of their investigation, the NFL employed forensic and medical experts to assess a series of photographs provided by Thompson displaying injuries to various parts of her body, including her face, arms, neck, shoulder, knees, and hips. In all three incidents, the photos were deemed recent and consistent with how Thompson described the assaults by the league’s experts.
Elliott and his representatives attempted to cast doubt on Thompson’s reliability during the investigation, according to the letter, but the league cites its independent experts, as well as the Columbus city prosecutor who handled the ultimately dropped criminal investigation, in deeming Thompson to be reliable and truthful.
The league also reviewed an incident where Elliott exposed a woman’s breast at a St. Patrick’s Day parade in 2017, but determined that it would not warrant its own investigation or further punishment. The league also said there would be no further discipline for a lack of cooperation on Elliott’s part, though the letter states there were “some questions with respect to [Elliott’s] cooperation with the investigation.”
The letter concludes with a warning that further violation of league policy or legal issues could subject Elliott to “suspension or potential banishment from the NFL.”
As CBS Sports’s Jason La Canfora notes, Elliott will likely have a very difficult time getting the suspension reduced given the breadth of evidence presented in the letter.
Elliott has 3 days to appeal. Given the wording if this letter, would imagine it would take overhwleming new evidence to alter this
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) August 11, 2017
If there’s any silver lining for Elliott, it does not appear that this report ended up coming to fruition. Other than that, the NFL’s letter serves as a damning indictment of the running back’s off-field conduct.
