A reader implored me via email on Monday to pick a side in the Ezekiel Elliott case. Here’s the side I’ve picked: The truth, and getting to it.
We’ve learned in recent years that the NFL’s version of the truth in matters of discipline may not always square entirely with the truth, given the apparent habit of selecting an outcome and working backward to justify it. And so it’s impossible in this case to conclude that the contents of the NFL’s public statement or its letter to Elliott explaining the suspension represent the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Eventually, more evidence will emerge that will better equip the jurors in the court of public opinion to get to the truth, or at least to formulate reasonable (or unreasonable) opinions about it. For now, the NFL has declined to release publicly information that would shed plenty of light on whether Elliott is guilty of domestic violence: the 160-page investigative report, more than 100 exhibits, and the transcript of the June 26 hearing.
It remains to be seen whether the report, the exhibits, or the transcript will be leaked. If/when litigation happens, those documents likely will become part of the public record.
While those materials may not ultimately allow a clear conclusion to be reached regarding what is or isn’t the truth, the truth is that it’s impossible to even begin to get there without seeing the raw materials on which the decision to suspend Elliott was based.