Lawsuit names more NFL analysts
Donovan McNabb and Eric Davis, former National Football League players who host shows on ESPN Radio, were suspended by the network Tuesday morning as the fallout continued from a lawsuit claiming sexual harassment and assault.
“We are investigating and McNabb and Davis will not appear on our networks as that investigation proceeds,” an ESPN spokesman said in a statement.
NFL Network on Monday suspended analysts Marshall Faulk, Heath Evans and Ike Taylor “pending an investigation,” in response to the suit.
The allegations were made in a lawsuit by a former NFL Network employee, Jami Cantor, who sued NFL Enterprises, the league’s media arm that operates the network, in Los Angeles Superior Court in October, claiming age and sex discrimination, sexual harassment and hostile work environment, and wrongful termination, among other complaints.
Eric Weinberger, president of the Bill Simmons Media Group and a former NFL Network executive, was suspended by the media group as a result of allegations made about him in the lawsuit.
“These are very serious and disturbing allegations that we were made aware of today,” a spokesman for the Bill Simmons Media Group said in a statement.
“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.”
Cantor worked as a wardrobe stylist for the network from 2006 until she was fired in October ’16. She filed an amended complaint Monday that more fully laid out the allegations of sexual harassment and assault against the three analysts, all former NFL players.
In the complaint, Cantor said that Faulk, a Hall of Fame running back, asked personal questions about her sex life, fondled her and pulled out his genitals while demanding oral sex; that Evans, a former fullback, sent nude pictures and propositioned her; and that Taylor, a former cornerback, sent her a video that showed him masturbating.
Cantor said that Weinberger, who left the network in 2015, groped her and put his crotch against her; that Davis made lewd comments and groped her; and that McNabb sent her sexually inappropriate text messages.
Davis also regularly appears on Fox Sports; a spokesman there didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. McNabb left the NFL Network in ’13, but later lost a job with Fox Sports after pleading guilty to drunken driving in November ’15.
The lawsuit also said that Cantor had been harassed by former NFL player and ex-NFL Network analyst Warren Sapp, as well as by the former network employee Marc Watts. Sapp was fired from the network in 2015 after being arrested on charges of assault and soliciting prostitution.
“The supervisors knew about it, the supervisors observed it,” Cantor’s lawyer, Laura Horton, said in an interview Monday. “It was insidious in this particular environment.”
NFL Network declined to comment beyond its initial statement announcing the suspensions.
Representatives for Faulk, Evans and Taylor did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
All three players had long and successful NFL careers that included a Super Bowl title. Faulk, a seven-time Pro Bowler who played for the Indianapolis Colts and the St. Louis Rams, won the Super Bowl with the Rams after the 1999 season and retired in 2007.
Taylor spent his entire 12-year career with the Pittsburgh Steelers, winning two Super Bowl titles before retiring in 2015.
Evans played for four teams across 10 seasons, winning a championship with the New Orleans Saints in ’10. He retired in ’11.