Ezekiel Elliott has filed a pre-emptive lawsuit challenging the appeal process stemming from the six-game suspension imposed upon him by the NFL.

The petition seeks a ruling from the United States District Court vacating the eventual ruling in the case, which would block the suspension, presuming that the arbitrator affirms all or part of the pending six-game banishment.

Elliott quickly filed suit because the NFL filed the first lawsuit two years ago in the Tom Brady case, rushing to federal court in Manhattan immediately after the ruling on Brady's appeal became final. Though the league lost at the district court level, the NFL prevailed in the appeals court.