Ezekiel Elliot of the Dallas Cowboys got a huge break this week after he was cleared from the domestic abuse charges made against him by his former girlfriend Tiffany Thompson. But, despite the court's decision to clear him, Elliot could still face suspension from the NFL.
Yesterday, the City Attorney's Office in Columbus, Ohio released a statement announcing the court's verdict in clearing Elliot from the allegations made by Thomson.
According to the statement, both Thompson and Elliot cooperated properly with the authorities regarding the investigation on the matter. However, due to the lack of evidence and the conflicting reports made by Thompson, the City Attorney's Office decided to reject the criminal charges filed by the victim against Elliot.
"After reviewing the totality of the evidence, the City Attorney's Office, Prosecutor Division is declining to approve criminal charges in this matter for any of the 5 alleged incidents," the statement read.
"This is 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," it continued.
Although Elliot has been cleared of all the charges, ESPN noted that the NFL is still carrying out a separate investigation on the matter. If the league finds sufficient evidence to support Thompson's allegations, then Elliot could end up facing a six-game suspension from the NFL.
This means the 21-year-old running back will not be able to join the rest of the Cowboys for six weeks. Based on the team's schedule for the 2016 NFL season, the Dallas organization will be opening the year against the New York Giants on Sep. 11. On the following week, the team will go up against the Washington Redskins. From then on, the Cowboys are scheduled to face off against the Chicago Bears, San Francisco 49ers, Cincinnati Bengals and Green Bay Packers.
Losing Elliot for six weeks would have huge repercussions to the team since the Cowboys are largely depending on the 4th overall pick of the 2016 draft to run the ball in games. Although the team's RB bench is still pretty deep with Lance Dunbar, Darius Jackson and Alfred Morris, it would still be a huge disadvantage for the Cowboys to enter the season without Elliot.
