The Draw Play

Smell that? It’s kind of a funky smell. It’s hard to sense, and in passing you might not even realize it’s there. But the closer you get, the more pronounced the smell is. The smell is scumbag, and the closer we get to Zeke Elliott, the worse the smell seems to be getting. It seems we may have to fly the “caution” flag on Zeke, because the more exposure to him we get, the more hints of scum we seem to smell. We might have a scumbag in our midst, even if it is not clear yet.

Let’s recap.

Zeke was involved in a possible domestic abuse incident. The results of which are not clear, and may involve a future suspension. Zeke was also involved in a speeding ticket where he was driving over 100 mph. Zeke apparently may have kind of sexually harassed someone (I would consider pulling someone’s top down without permission a light form of sexual harassment). The latest news is that Zeke allegedly broke someone’s nose in a bar altercation. None of these things by themselves (outside the possible domestic abuse) are particularly bad. In fact outside the DV thing, I’d say they would be worth ignoring for the most part as a dumb kid with too much superstar privilege not being mature, and the DV incident is still not official or anything. But…doesn’t something smell just a little bit funny?

I’m not going to say Zeke is officially a scumbag yet. He might be just a dumb kid. He might be the victim of too much celebrity shining a light on minor incidents all players have, and so much is muddled about the abuse thing at this point. But enough has happened in a short enough period of time that maybe that little wiff you got should be investigated. At the very least, to put more pressure on Zeke himself to be more responsible. Dude has a bright future, and if he’s not a domestic abuser, I wouldn’t want to see these other fairly minor things damage his chances. If he is a domestic abuser though, screw him.

All I hope is that if he does end up being a crap human, he doesn’t get “redeemed” by playing football good. So many crap humans have had “redemption” seasons written. Vick came back and everyone talked about his redemption while he was lighting it up with the Eagles. Big Ben was “on a quest for redemption” when he dragged the Steelers to a Super Bowl after beating sexual assault allegations. We as a sports culture need to stop pretending playing sports well redeems you for off-field sins. Michael Vick’s true redemption (Which some people still don’t think can ever happen) came from his actions off the field. Helping animals and righting real life wrongs, being a model citizen since prison. Big Ben does not redeem off the field actions by throwing touchdowns, and it’s sick that we ever entertain the possibility that it did. Big Ben’s redemption needs to come from his actions off the field. But Zeke is a super star on the most popular team in the country, and if he does end up being a poophead, can we all promise to not buy into these stories that will inevitably get written?

Edit: fixed the jersey, was apparently on mental autopilot last night. The site temporarily broke after an update and I had to rush the finish and didn’t catch the error in time. Zeke has returned Dak’s jersey, we appreciate your concern in this matter.