Only one man knows whether or not there will be an Ezekiel Elliott suspension or not and that man is Roger Goodell. Elliott met with Goodell this week to discuss an off the field incident that occurred at a music festival in Las Vegas, Nevada in May and Cowboy Nation is anxiously awaiting a decision from the league on the matter.
The incident, which involved Elliott “pushing” down a security guard, resulted in the star running back being handcuffed by Vegas police but released without any charges being laid. The security guard did not sustain any injuries and most Dallas Cowboy fans would argue that a suspension is not warranted. However, in the back of their minds they cannot help but think of the 2016 suspension that resulted in Zeke missing 6 games despite not being found guilty of any crime. Will Roger Goodell try to make an example of Ezekiel Elliott once again?
After meeting with Goodell, Elliott posted this apology through social media:
The timing of this tweet has resulted in 2 major theories among Cowboys fans. The more optimistic theory is that Goodell and Elliott discussed the May incident and it was decided that the league will not be suspending Elliott. That decision being conditional upon a public apology and the promise of good behavior going forward. The second theory is that a suspension is imminent and Ezekiel Elliott is attempting damage control to mitigate the number of games he will miss. I am not a subscriber to either theory. If I were to venture a guess as to why this apology was issued it at this time, I would be inclined to believe it was more proactive as a result of uncertainty rather than reactive as a result of a decision.
The NFL has a history of taking their time with these decisions and the interview with Elliott was probably the last step in the process before a final decision will be made. It makes far more sense to me that following the meeting with Goodell, Elliott was made aware that a decision was forthcoming. In response, or perhaps prompted by his advisers to do so, Elliott’s strategy was to issue a public apology with the hope that it will influence Goodell’s decision. Hopefully it works but I have a sneaking suspicion that the Dallas Cowboys will open the season without the services of Ezekiel Elliott. The biggest question will be for how many games? Will it be limited to a single game since the incident was a minor one or will it be multiple games since Zeke is now a repeat offender? Without the advantage of owning a crystal ball, I must defer Roger Goodell to answer that question, and hopefully that answer comes sooner rather than later.
Assuming I am correct and an Ezekiel Elliott suspension is imminent there is a silver lining for Dallas Cowboy fans. Of course losing their best offensive player is not ideal but being without Zeke to start the season will give Dak Prescott another opportunity to prove himself as a franchise QB. An opportunity to prove himselft worthy of the big contract he is about to receive. In 2017 Dak was not able to rise to the challenge and the season was lost when Elliott was suspended for 6 games. Unfortunately for Dak and for Cowboys fans, the Ezekiel Elliott suspension coincided with a Tyron Smith injury and the complete breakdown of the offensive line. In last years season finale against the Giants, Dak Prescott played one of his best games ever without Elliott in the lineup; but, that was more about Dak proving himself to Dak than it was about silencing his critics. This time will be different. If Zeke misses time and Dak Prescott plays well, it will silence many of those critics and elevate Dak one step closer to elite status. Imagine if Dak Prescott could reach a level of play that could release the Dallas Cowboys offense from the shackles of having to rely on one player (albeit a special one with rare abilities) for their offense to function. That could in turn impact future roster decisions like for example deciding whether or not to extend Zeke and/or Amari Cooper and allow the Cowboys to spend precious cap dollars to address other positions of need. Wishful thinking? Perhaps, but unless your name is Roger Goodell, one never knows what the future holds.
*Photos by Kieth Allison https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode