Ezekiel Elliott lost possibly his last attempt to block his six-game NFL suspension Monday, meaning the Dallas Cowboys star running back would not return to the football field until mid-December, ESPN reported.
Elliott, who led the league in running in his rookie year last football season, had been suspended by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for violating the personal conduct policy in connection with domestic violence allegations made by former girlfriend Tiffany Thompson in July 2016, the network said.
U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla said in her ruling, "the NFLPA has failed to demonstrate a substantial question warranting the extraordinary remedy of injunctive relief or a balance of hardships that decidedly weighs in its favor," ESPN reported.
Failia also said that in arbitration, Elliott, who had continued to play this season while seeking a preliminary injunction against the suspension, was given "ample opportunity, in terms of both proceedings and evidence, to challenge the commissioner's decision," the network wrote.
Elliott's attorney Jeffrey Kessler, who also represented the NFL players' union, claimed that the running back did not get a fair appeal process, the Dallas Morning News reported.
Kessler said the NFL's lead investigator found that there was not enough evidence to support a suspension, but the finding was not included in the final "Elliott Report;" the union was not allowed to examine Goodell about what he knew of the investigator's judgment; and Elliott's accuser, Tiffany Thompson, was not made to testify at the arbitration hearing, the Morning News said.
Failla ruled, though, that the NFL acted, in their totality, by the book in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement and NFL's personal conduct policy, the Morning News said.
Cowboys' coach Jason Garrett told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram had prepared all season knowing that Elliott's suspension could be upheld at the end of legal maneuvering.
"We have some veteran running backs, we have some depth at that position," Garrett told the newspaper. "It's not like we’re just living this day and we don't think about the future at all — you have to do that. I think you build your team that way at all positions.
"If this guy is not able to play, who's your backup? Who can go in? That's the way you construct your team, and you're always thinking about those scenarios. We'll take it one day at a time and we'll see what his situation is. Regardless, we’re going to go forward and try to play our best football," Garrett added.
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