Ezekiel Elliott Will Play Sunday, Even Though His Six-Game Suspension Was Upheld

NFL appeals officer Harold Henderson has decided to uphold Ezekiel Elliott’s six-game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy, according to multiple reports.

The league announced the suspension in August, following a 13-month investigation into his ex-girlfriend Tiffany Thompson’s allegations of domestic abuse, and the Dallas Cowboys running back made his case against the suspension in an appeal hearing last week. The decision to uphold or overturn the suspension then lay with Henderson alone.

Shortly after the appeal hearing wrapped, the NFL Players Association sued the league in federal court, seeking a temporary restraining order to block the suspension immediately. A ruling on that is forthcoming, but Elliott will reportedly be able to play in Sunday’s season opener against the New York Giants:

A transcript of the appeal hearing was made public as an exhibit in the players association’s lawsuit. That included testimony from Kia Roberts, the lead investigator, saying that she had recommended Elliott not be suspended after interviewing Thompson several times. But Roberts’s recommendation was missing from the league’s final report, and her advice was ultimately not heeded. This became a key point in Elliott’s appeal, though apparently not one meaningful enough in Henderson’s eyes for the suspension to be reduced or overturned.

Elliott’s attorneys released a statement shortly after news broke of the appeal’s outcome, alleging that he was the victim of a “conspiracy” by the NFL: