News: NYPost: Ezekiel Elliott threatens to sue Sports Illustrated over story controversy

[Redball Express]

I thought when that video of Beckham came out and our fans were calling for him to be suspended that it was just as stupid as this. The evidence was circumstantial at best. The primary difference I see is that I don't think there was any legitimate news source that accused him of smoking weed or doing coke even though there was more "evidence" of that than saying Elliott had been smoking weed just because he used the word "faded." There was just a lot of fan speculation while some news sources did say that it looked like cocaine and a blunt, but not actually that it was. SI wrote in its headline that Elliott "Admits to Being High." That is just wrong.

Elliott absolutely was within his rights and justified to tweet: “I expect that from little gossip site but Sports Illustrated? REALLY?” and "Actually I was referring to the few drinks I had which I said during the live stream. Doesn’t that make this defamation? You guys will [be] hearing from my lawyers @SInow.”

I do not want to point out the old Cowboy bias..

But..

what can you really expect?

While we have demonstrations in the streets over civil rights..

Zeke gets his rights attacked and he is supposed to shrug it off?

No no no.

It's the same with his dog subject.

Zeke has rights.

He needs to use whatever he can to defend himself.

 

[Jake]

Ezekiel Elliott threatens to sue Sports Illustrated over weed story controversy

To be blunt, Ezekiel Elliott is furious. The Dallas Cowboys star running back threatened to sue Sports Illustrated on Monday after the famed magazine ran a column online with the headline, Ezekiel

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I remember when journalists researched their stories, rather than make assumptions based off a comment made online.

I've never heard of this Traina guy but he comes off as lazy and just looking for a reaction. Well, he got one.

 

[aria]

Seems extremely petty. Zeke has assaulted people, was put in handcuffs, pulled a girls top up in public, live streamed himself drinking and admitted he was high and he’s concerned about an article claiming he smoked weed?!

Maybe he should work on his own issues and representing himself better instead of worrying about an article that reinforces what he’s already admitted to (drugs), what everyone already knows and what no one really cares about.

The bigger issue is he was dumb and enough to live stream and say he was high, NOT that he smoked pot or consumed it.

 

[gimmesix]

I do not want to point out the old Cowboy bias..

But..

what can you really expect?

While we have demonstrations in the streets over civil rights..

Zeke gets his rights attacked and he is supposed to shrug it off?

No no no.

It's the same with his dog subject.

Zeke has rights.

He needs to use whatever he can to defend himself.

I don't see it being an attack on his rights, but he certainly has the right to get unverified information corrected or withdrawn, which is what he did. He was absolutely in the right to do that.

I guess some have just grown so used to the thought that the media reports "fake news" that they think it should be accepted when it happens. For most of us in this field, we want to get it right. Elliott complained about SI printing something that was unverified and SI apologized and corrected it. That's the way it should work.

I have trouble fathoming fans having a problem with that. But some seem to have a problem with anything Elliott does for some reason.

 

[gimmesix]

I remember when journalists researched their stories, rather than make assumptions based off a comment made online.

I've never heard of this Traina guy but he comes off as lazy and just looking for a reaction. Well, he got one.

I believe he's a columnist so his job is to comment on things. Good columnists do research what they are writing about, but it isn't a requirement for having an opinion. I do agree that in our social media world, putting something out there to get a reaction seems to be more important than worrying about facts.

 

[GenoT]

Unfortunately, Zeke appears to be one of those people who have yet to understand and accept that there may be consequences from not having a good grasp of living a celebrity life on social-media.

 

[aria]

...But some seem to have a problem with anything Elliott does for some reason.

I agree with a lot of your posts and appreciate the insight from someone who knows about reporting so don’t take this as personal.

“For some reason”...a lot of people have little sympathy for someone who has assaulted other people, done things during the entire #metoo movement that were very questionable, has been seen on video bullying people, and comes across as very dumb, selfish and arrogant with his actions and words.

His supporters can minimize these things all they want but he has managed to make himself look quite bad without any help not just amongst Cowboys fans but everywhere. I’m quite sure if he weren’t wearing a star, there would still be threads about him on this site (just like there are for other teams players when they do something dumb) and many of his current supporters would be attacking him rather than grasping at straws trying to defend him.

It’s not even just one reason, there are several reasonS not to like this punk and it started a long time ago with zero improvement since.

 

[aria]

Unfortunately, Zeke appears to be one of those people who have yet to understand and accept that there may be consequences from not having a good grasp of living a celebrity life on social-media.

Replace “appears” with “is” and you would be 100% accurate.

 

[Redball Express]

I don't see it being an attack on his rights, but he certainly has the right to get unverified information corrected or withdrawn, which is what he did. He was absolutely in the right to do that.

I guess some have just grown so used to the thought that the media reports "fake news" that they think it should be accepted when it happens. For most of us in this field, we want to get it right. Elliott complained about SI printing something that was unverified and SI apologized and corrected it. That's the way it should work.

I have trouble fathoming fans having a problem with that. But some seem to have a problem with anything Elliott does for some reason.

Yep.

I will say.. Zeke is just a unique guy..

When I think of the Cowboys..I think of him first.

Dak 2nd..

Amari 3rd.

Whatever the order..Zeke is top 2 at the least.

Watching him do his "feed me" thing is just so unifying for us as fans.

The Salvation Army Kettle dive..? Another memorable Cowboy moment.

So I easily separate the player from the mystic but some can not and they get confused about who he is vs. their image of who they want him to be.

I never ever want to see him across from us like we did with Emmitt ending up in Arizona.

Zeke is an original.

 

[aria]

Yep.

I will say.. Zeke is just a unique guy..

When I think of the Cowboys..I think of him first.

Dak 2nd..

Amari 3rd.

Whatever the order..Zeke is top 2 at the least.

Watching him do his "feed me" thing is just so unifying for us as fans.

The Salvation Army Kettle dive..? Another memorable Cowboy moment.

So I easily separate the player from the mystic but some can not and they get confused about who he is vs. their image of who they want him to be.

I never ever want to see him across from us like we did with Emmitt ending up in Arizona.

Zeke is an original.

When everyone thinks of the current Cowboys they think of zeke because he’s always in the news for all the wrong reasons.

LOL, “feed me” is unifying? You’re trolling now, right? Even some of his biggest supporters here have said they can’t stand that anymore. He gets a 7 yard run and does that stupid celebration and then he’s clearly gasping for air in the huddle on the next play.

I think you have it completely backwards, you make his image into something that you want it to be just you can try to like him and ignore what you truly think. If he played for any other team you wouldn’t be able to stand his personality.

Who cares about the Kettle dive? I’d prefer to have a memorable moment that meant something positive, not rushing for 47 yards in a playoff game against the Rams or 47 yards against the Eagles to get into the playoffs or about fumbling the ball in the Saints game. You want to talk about memorable moments that don’t mean a dang thing but ignore those that do and he failed miserably.

He’s unique alright, uniquely stupid.

 

[Runwildboys]

I believe he's a columnist so his job is to comment on things. Good columnists do research what they are writing about, but it isn't a requirement for having an opinion. I do agree that in our social media world, putting something out there to get a reaction seems to be more important than worrying about facts.

Even "columnists" don't have the right to make unsubstantiated claims against a celebrity in public print. Look how much grief we give to anyone on this site for stating opinions as facts, much less in a national SI article, by what I assume is a known columnist.

 

[JJHLH1]

“To be blunt...”

 

[gimmesix]

Even "columnists" don't have the right to make unsubstantiated claims against a celebrity in public print. Look how much grief we give to anyone on this site for stating opinions as facts, much less in a national SI article, by what I assume is a known columnist.

There's definitely a lot more leeway in a column when you are stating your opinion. The headline was wrong no matter if it was a column or article. You can't state that someone "admits to being high" as a fact if you don't know if it's a fact. It is likely that Traina did not even write the headline, though, because editors do that for most publications.

He did make the comment in his column that “after wearing a mask and social distancing, the most important thing in life to remember is to always make sure you are logged off before you start riffing," but like with fading that word carries multiple meanings (even though it's pretty clear how he was using it) and that sentence can be seen as a general statement rather than a direct accusation.

I'm not saying that Traina shouldn't have made sure he had his facts straight, but the most harmful thing was the headline, which again, he likely did not write.

Looking at that column, it primarily seems to be his "thoughts" about different things on social media, so I'd say it isn't likely he ever does research for them and probably gets quite a few things wrong because of it. Sadly, that's part of the age we live in. What gets passed off as journalism used to be only good enough for gossip magazines.

 

[PA Cowboy Fan]

Is this what it's going to be like if there is no football this year? lol