U.S. Court makes ruling on La'el Collins suspension case

Dallas Cowboys right tackle La’el Collins received a ruling Tuesday on an appeal filed to overturn his five-game suspension set by an arbitrator. Collins’ suspension will be upheld, and he will miss Sunday’s game against the New England Patriots before being activated next week.

La’el Collins suspension upheld by court ruling

Collins was suspending initially for five games following a series of missed drug test appointments as part of the NFL’s drug testing policy. The NFLPA negotiated on his behalf and were able to get the suspension reduced to just two games.

Collins was not satisfied with the new suspension terms either and asked for the suspension to be fully overruled and the NFLPA brought in an arbitrator to hear the case. After presented with all information and additional information that Collins attempted to bribe one of the NFL drug testing officials, the arbitrator recommended the suspension be upheld and increased to the original five games.

Collins then appealed the arbitrator’s ruling through the US court system, and found out on Tuesday that the suspension would be upheld after all.

Terence Steele will continue to start in his absence for the Cowboys.

Collins’ case for reinstatement

Texas District Judge Amos L. Mazzant had taken Collins under advisement following his appeal. Despite his case that the suspension was an invalid one, the judge ruled that his motion was denied on Tuesday.

Collins sat out for four games as the NFL continued aggressively defending its position that Collins should be out for the full five games. Agent Peter Schaffer, who assisted in the representation of Collins in this matter, issued a statement following the hearing.

“I was embarrassed today to be a part of the NFL, as the league’s outside lawyers made numerous unsubstantiated and unnecessary attempts to assassinate the character of Mr. Colllins,” Schaffer said. “He is a member of the league and should be treated with respect. The NFL’s ‘win at all costs’ mentality when dealing with its own players on display today was and is shameful. We hold the NFL in the highest regard, but today their counsel didn’t live up to that standard.”

Collins’ argument was that the NFL substance abuse policy doesn’t permit suspensions for missed tests.

“The suit is meritless as already determined by two jointly-appointed NFL-NFLPA impartial arbitrators who have reviewed this,” the NFL said. “We will seek to have this case dismissed as soon as possible.”

La’El Collins missed seven tests and believes he had legitimate reasons for the missed tests. He missed one on the day that Cowboys coach Markus Paul died last November.

Since signing with the Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 2015, La’el Collins has been a staple on the Dallas offensive line, starting 62 games in that span.

On3’s Nikki Chavanelle contributed to this article.