Report: No grievance filed by suspended official
No grievance hearing for suspended game official Roy Ellison was scheduled for the weekend so he will serve his one-game ban, the Washington Post reported Saturday.
The NFL suspended Ellison on Friday for "making a profane and derogatory statement" to Washington Redskins offensive tackle Trent Williams during last Sunday's game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
The NFL Referees Association said after the suspension was announced that it would file a grievance. The NFLRA accused Williams of speaking to Ellison abusively and using a racial slur.
"Roy Ellison is an accomplished 11-year veteran who is highly respected," said Michael Arnold, the NFLRA's legal counsel. "The NFL imposed its judgment upon him without consideration of all the facts. The decision was arbitrary and unjustified and will be challenged with an immediate grievance."
Williams denied that he said anything inappropriate to Ellison during the game.
"If I ever said anything like that to a ref and he feels that strongly about the word, that's at least an unsportsmanlike (penalty)," Williams told the Post. "Definitely wouldn't just warrant a tongue-lashing from a guy that's supposed to be the only neutral person on the field and not to feel either way about either team.
"There's trash talk. Trash talk is trash talk. You get that in every sport."
The controversy started when Williams said after the game that Ellison walked by him after a play and called him a "garbage-ass, disrespectful (expletive)."
