Earlier this week, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Ezekiel Elliott is still trying to get used to being a "rock star" in and outside of football.
Recently retired Cowboys great Tony Romo echoed those sentiments Thursday, saying Elliott is still trying to adjust to his relatively newfound fame.
"I know that he's a good kid," Romo told The Ben & Skin Show on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas. "He's just trying to find his way. He's in a position where he's always going to be in a spot where people are going to take a photo, they're going to talk about him. We all get these little times in our career where you can go two different directions. He's figuring it out."
Romo's comments come after Elliott was involved in an incident at a Dallas bar on Sunday night that sparked an assault investigation by Dallas police. Police announced Wednesday they have suspended their probe into the matter.
Elliott, 21, remains under NFL investigation for domestic violence accusations his now former girlfriend made against him last year. He has denied the accusations. In addition, he's appealing a misdemeanor traffic violation he was convicted of last week and the league is still looking at how he was involved in Sunday's bar incident.
"He's obviously made some choices he'll reflect back and wish he done a little different," Romo said. "But at the same time, just not a whole lot of people are really thrust into this spotlight, this soon, at that age. Really, even in the National Football League there's only a few of them. I always want to give people a little grace period and a little time."
"The fact that I know him and I know his personality and how much good he does off the field, how good he is with people, I think he's going to figure it out and be fine," Romo continued. "But like we say, you always got to take responsibility and try to improve in all facets of life."
Romo wasn't the only one close to the Cowboys to weigh in Thursday on Elliott. Wide receiver Dez Bryant also believes Elliott is still learning how to adjust to being a famous football player.
"It's just a stepping stone that he's gonna get over," Bryant told reporters at his kickoff party, per WFAA-TV. "Zeke's a young guy. I'm not blaming it on that. Freshman college to playing for America's team, it's kinda hard to deal with. You gotta give Zeke credit because he do deserve it, he do deserve to have fun. Because he put that work in to have fun. But, as the years pass, as he gets older, he's gonna mature and things are gonna get a lot smoother."
