The NFL filed a motion to stay the preliminary injunction of Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott’s six-game suspension with United States District Court Judge Amos L. Mazzant last week and Mazzant issued his ruling on Monday.
Mazzant denied the NFL’s motion, which means that the injunction remains in place and that Elliott is free to play barring an order reinstating the suspension from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. The NFL has filed such a motion, something Mazzant noted in the decision handed down on Monday.
“In its Emergency Motion in front of the Court, the NFL is complaining that the Court essentially issued a premature order by failing to wait for the arbitrator to issue his ruling and therefore, lacked subject matter jurisdiction,” Judge Mazzant wrote. “Oddly, the NFL is now seeking expedited relief from the Fifth Circuit without first waiting for the Court to rule on the identical issue. The irony is not lost on the Court.”
Mazzant’s ruling also takes issue with the NFL’s argument that Elliott would not suffer irreparable harm if the suspension went into effect because he would recover any lost money if later court rulings found the suspension should be permanently enjoined. Mazzant writes that “it is well-recognized that Elliott will suffer injury if he has to serve an improper suspension while awaiting the resolution of the petition to vacate” and that the league has not shown any harm that will be done to it if the suspension is on hold while the legal process plays out.
