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Ezekiel Elliott ‘Public Enemy No. 1′ To NFL: Could The Dallas Cowboys’ Running Back Be Headed For A Domestic Violence Suspension?

By Jason Fletcher
Published on: 04:08 PST, Nov 13, 2016

According to The Dallas Morning News‘ Tim Cowlishaw, the only thing that could derail the Dallas Cowboys’ impressive season could be the NFL’s investigation into two separate domestic violence allegations involving running back Ezekiel Elliott. In total, there have been five alleged incidents involving Elliott over the years.

In February, a woman who was listed in a Florida police report as a “friend (with benefits)” of Elliott’s accused the former Ohio State star of physical violence. According to the report, Ezekiel told the woman to leave his apartment and go back to Ohio and then headed towards his bedroom. The woman allegedly stood in his way and he pushed her into a wall and injured her shoulder.. The report also mentioned that “there were no physical signs of injury.”

Charges were never filed in the Florida case.

On July 22, Elliott’s ex-girlfriend Tiffany Thompson called police to a restaurant parking lot where the couple were celebrating Ezekiel’s 21st birthday. Thompson told police that the two got into an argument and Elliott got physical with her and left bruises on her legs, arms, hands and wrists which she posted pictures of to Instagram.

Elliott denied the allegations and told police that he had text messages that proved that Thompson was making the whole thing up.

On September 6, the Columbus (Ohio) City Attorney’s Office released a statement that said prosecutors were declining to pursue charges after reviewing all evidence, “primarily due to conflicting and inconsistent information across all incidents resulting in concern regarding the sufficiency of the evidence to support the filing of criminal charges.”

Despite police not having enough evidence to charge Ezekiel Elliott in either case, the NFL embarked on its own investigation into the allegations and interviewed Elliott as recently as late October, according to USA TODAY Sports. While Ezekiel may not have to face criminal charges, the NFL could still suspend him under the domestic violence policy in the collective bargaining agreement if they find enough evidence that something physical occurred.

The NFL has remained inconsistent in its discipline of potential domestic violence offenders. We all know about the Ray Rice situation where he told the league that he hit his wife, but he only received a three-game suspension until the video got released of him punching his then-fiancee in the face on an elevator.

Even as recently as this season, the league only suspended New York Giants kicker Josh Brown one game despite him admitting that he had been physically violent with his wife on more than 20 occasions. After that news became public, the Giants finally washed their hands of their troubled kicker.

According to someone close to Ezekiel Elliott, the NFL has now made the Dallas Cowboys’ running back “Public Enemy No. 1” during their investigation. Due to the mishaps in the Rice and Brown cases, the league is leaving no stone unturned as they look into the allegations against Elliott.

Despite the thorough investigation and the recent news, Cowlishaw doesn’t believe the league will end up suspending Ezekiel for the alleged incidents. Even still, it’s certainly a distraction to a team that enters Sunday’s Week 10 matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers with a 7-1 record and a running back who leads the NFL with 891 rushing yards.

[Featured Image by Jason Miller/Getty Images]

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