CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Is it a coincidence that Dallas Cowboys defensive end Greg Hardy is scheduled to return from a 10-game suspension just in time to face his former team, the Carolina Panthers, on Thanksgiving Day?

It is, according to the NFL.

"Two unrelated, separate matters," league spokesperson Brian McCarthy told ESPN.com.

It will be a moot point if Hardy wins his appeal and his suspension is reduced. But for the moment, the suspension Hardy received Wednesday -- for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy because of his domestic violence case -- puts the national spotlight on his Dallas debut against Carolina.

That's something the NFL could have avoided. The league released its 2015 season schedule less than 24 hours before handing down the Hardy suspension. All the NFL had to do was schedule Panthers-Cowboys early in the season; even if the suspension is reduced, it probably won't be reduced to less than six games.

As it stands now, the Thanksgiving game will bring more visibility to Hardy's May 2014 arrest on a domestic violence charge and the legal drama that ensued. It will dominate the headlines in Dallas and Charlotte, and arguably the rest of the NFL world since it’s a national game on a national holiday.

Why would the league want that?

Coincidence or not, that's what it will get unless the suspension is reduced.