A U.S. District Court judge in Texas denied the NFL's appeal for a stay of the preliminary injunction granted to Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott allowing him to continue to play while his six-game suspension goes through the courts.
Judge Amos Mazzant's ruling on Monday means the case will now move to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, where theNFL has already filed an appeal in the case.
"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," Mazzant said in the decision Monday. "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."
The NFL filed the emergency motion with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Friday to seek the stay. The league asked for a ruling by Tuesday but no later than Sept. 26 in a filing to stay the preliminary injunction that blocked Elliott's suspension for violating the league's personal conduct policy.
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