3 NFL Network analysts suspended amid accusations of sexual harassment

The NFL Network has suspended three football analysts — including a Hall of Fame running back — over accusations of sexual misconduct in a court filing from a former employee.

A statement from the network provided to news outlets said it has suspended Marshall Faulk, Ike Taylor and Heath Evans over accusations from a former NFL Network employee, Jami Cantor. Cantor, a wardrobe stylist, alleges the three committed various forms of sexual harassment.

Faulk is accused of groping Cantor from behind and exposing himself to her in his hotel room. Taylor is accused of sending Cantor “sexually inappropriate” photos of himself over text message. Evans is also accused of sending Cantor nude photos of himself, as well as sexually suggestive comments.

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The three have been suspended “pending an investigation into these allegations,” the statement said. Three other former players who are no longer NFL Network employees, Donovan McNabb, Warren Sapp and Eric Davis, are also named and accused of sexual misconduct in the filing. McNabb and Davis were suspended by ESPN while it investigates the accusations.

Cantor’s court filing on Monday also included a complaint against Eric Weinberger, a top executive at The Ringer, a media group owned by former ESPN writer Bill Simmons. Weinberger is accused of pressing his crotch against Cantor and asking her to touch it while Weinberger was then an executive producer at the network.

“These are very serious and disturbing allegations that we were made aware of today,” a statement from The Ringer obtained by USA Today reads. “We are placing Eric on leave indefinitely until we have a better understanding of what transpired during his time at the NFL, and we will conduct our own internal investigation.”

In a statement to USA Today, Cantor’s attorney called her court filing and willingness to come forward about the NFL figures “courageous.”

“I think Jami Cantor is a very courageous woman, as all women coming forward in this #metoo movement,” Cantor’s lawyer told USA Today Sports. “All these women are courageous. These women have had the courage to step up knowing that, in the past at least, it would be a ‘he said, she said’ situation until we’ve had this national conversation.”