Zeke Elliot is suspended for 6 games.

STRAP IN BOYS THIS IS GONNA BE A FUN FIGHT!

I was expecting a 1 game suspension at most. I think most were. The NFL was not going to heavily punish one of the biggest money making teams in the nation by suspending it’s new big star, right? The NFL would never go after a major market team with flimsy evidence just to make a point, right? oh…

But really I have legit no idea what to expect from here on out and I don’t even know what to believe at this point. On one hand, the NFL actually kind of seems to have done it’s job here. The statement  by the NFL actually reads like a group of people actually did the job it was supposed to do. It almost reads like they put a more thorough investigation into the matter than the Columbus cops did. Considering the idea of Ohio State Local Bias, that might even be true. 6 Games is the NFL’s automatic policy for incidents of domestic violence. While there was no criminal charges and no convictions, the NFL is not bound by the law, and can punish players accordingly like any business. In a vacuum, the NFL looks like they might have gotten this one…right?

Except the NFL has no goddamn credibility!

The NFL was in possession of a video of Ray Rice punching his wife unconscious and gave him two games while bringing the hammer down on pot smokers. When found out, the NFL committed double jeopardy and punished Rice for the same crime twice. The NFL and Roger Goodell, in a desperate attempt to make a power move, dragged Tom Brady, the Patriots, and the league through a two year slog of an eventual backfiring attempt to look tough for PR purposes. The NFL, which proudly proclaimed a new, strict policy on DV, promptly ignored that policy pretty much at every turn, most notably when they almost seemed reluctant to punish old and completely expendable kicker Josh Brown. I could go on. The NFL has such a lack of credibility that I could be shown hard evidence that the NFL found of Elliot hurting Tiffany Thompson and I would still wonder about the credibility of their punishments. I’ll admit it, after I sided with the NFL when Deflategate broke and was proven wrong, I am completely and utterly reluctant to give the NFL any benefit of the doubt, ever. With that track record how can I?

The thing is it’s still a little murky, too. We have video evidence of the St. Patrick’s Day incident, which is enough for a big fine at minimum if you ask me, but Zeke’s victim has also been caught apparently lying about one of the 4 domestic violence incidents? Elliot’s argument seems to be hinging on that for the moment. If she lied once, couldn’t she lie the other 3 times? It’s flimsy but it’s enough to strike some doubts, especially in people who don’t want it to be true (Cowboys fans). Jerry Jones looks like he’s going to fight it because of course he would, the Cowboys would never stand for such atrocities as punishing a player for something they may not have done.

It feels like we just hit a big moment in our next big scandal and all we can do is strap in. Zeke will appeal and probably get the 2 game reduction, but I think we’re in it for the long haul fellas so grab that popcorn and lets see where this thing takes us. As a Giants fan, I am delighted and eager for the show.

In the meantime, let’s enjoy die hard fantasy owners all shitting themselves with anger over the news.