11 July 2023 , 18:41
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Former Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott has settled a $1million (£777,000) lawsuit involving a dog attack before it could proceed to trial.
A lawsuit was filed in July 2021 by Jennifer Gampper, a Frisco resident and neighbor of Elliott. She sought over $1m in damages after Elliott's Rottweiler dog attacked her, causing "severe and permanent injuries." The lawsuit was resolved before its scheduled trial date on Monday, as confirmed by Gampper's attorney, Christopher Hamilton, to the Morning News.
In May 2021, an incident involving three of Elliott's dogs, a Rottweiler, and two bulldogs, allegedly escaped from his property. Unfortunately, the Rottweiler bit two people, and they had to be hospitalized for non-life-threatening injuries. Frisco Animal Services secured the dogs, and Elliott was given three at-large animal citations. The Rottweiler had to be quarantined for ten days.
According to the lawsuit, Elliott did not take appropriate measures to control his dog despite knowing its tendency to bite and attack people. The case includes landscaper Pablo Vela as a defendant, alleging his negligence in not securing a gate while working on Elliott's lawn resulted in the dog's escape.
Three lawsuits have been filed due to incidents involving Elliott's dogs within the past few years. The first lawsuit was filed in 2020 by a swimming pool attendant who claimed that all three dogs attacked her while she was visiting Elliott's home, but no charges were filed for this incident.
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The second lawsuit, still pending according to court records, was filed in 2021 by an employee at a canine daycare in Prosper. Elliott remains without a team after being released by the Cowboys as a veteran running back in March. On March 15, during the official start of free agency, the Cowboys decided to release Elliott. This move resulted in a savings of over $10.9m (£7.7m) for the team, as it was classified as a post-June first cut.
Ezekiel Elliott speaks with ex-teammate Dak Prescott (2022 Cooper Neill)The Cowboys chose not to offer Elliott a deal he might find offensive. Instead, they felt that other teams should be the ones to have difficult discussions with Elliott regarding accepting a less lucrative contract. It has been only four years since Elliott signed his previous six-year, $90 million (£70m) contract, the richest contract among all active running backs at the time. However, in 2022, Elliott did not perform like his old All-Pro self.
He had a career-low of 876 yards and 3.8 yards per carry, a significant drop from his 2016 rookie campaign when he led the league in rushing. During the season, Tony Pollard became the starting running back for the Cowboys. He finished the year with 1,007 yards, nine touchdowns, and an average of 5.2 yards per carry.