Six weeks after Greg Hardy’s appeal was heard over seven and a half hours in Washington DC, we finally have a ruling.
NFL PR man and spokesperson Greg Aiello tweeted Friday afternoon that the arbitrator in the case, Harold Henderson, has upheld Hardy’s suspension but reduced it from 10 to four games.
After the announcement, owner Jerry Jones issued the following statement: “We are looking forward to the start of the season and having Greg be a part of the team.”
The reduced suspension means he will be eligible to return in Week 5 against the Patriots, the same game that middle linebacker Rolando McClain--who has been suspended four games for violating the league’s substance abuse policy--will make his season debut.
Obviously, this is great news for the Cowboys’ new-look defense.
Here’s where it could get interesting. Earlier this week, it was reported that Hardy would fight any ruling longer than two games. So while a reduction from 10 games to four games seems like a pretty big victory, there’s a chance we haven’t heard the end of this story just yet.
