Heads Are Rolling at NFL Network After Sexual Harassment Scandals
In December 2017, multiple NFL Network analysts were suspended due to sexual harassment allegations and there appears to be some finality to their statuses.
The New York Post reports that Marshall Faulk, Ike Taylor and Heath Evans will not be returning to the network for the upcoming season.
The three were among many NFL Network employees who were accused of sexual harassment by Jami Cantor, a wardrobe stylist for the network.
Taylor is already out at NFL Network, while Faulk and Evans will soon be former employees as well. The Post says Faulk had at least one more year left on his contract.
A clause put into the deals states that neither side will be able to sue the other, so this appears to be the end of this scandal that emerged during the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment and assault.
None of the three is currently listed on the NFL Network’s website as being on-air talent.
Faulk had been employed by NFL Network since 2006 after a Hall of Fame career with the Indianapolis Colts and St. Louis Rams.
He was the most prominent of the analysts accused of the harassment as he was on the NFL Network’s signature pregame show, “NFL GameDay.”
That show has now lost two of its five analysts as in 2015 Warren Sapp was fired just hours after being arrested on suspicion of soliciting a prostitute and assault. (The charges were later dismissed.)
Evans joined NFL Network in 2015 after a 10-year career as a running back. He won Super Bowl XLIV with the New Orleans Saints in 2009.
Taylor also joined the company in 2015 after playing 12 seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He won two Super Bowls and played the third-most games by a cornerback in franchise history.
Along with Faulk, Evans and Taylor, Donovan McNabb and Eric Davis were also named in the lawsuit.
Both were former employees of NFL Network and were working for ESPN at the time of the allegations. They were subsequently fired from their positions with ESPN.
Shortly after these allegations were made public last December, another former NFL Network employee made similar claims against Davis and fellow analyst Michael Irvin.
Erin McParland was a freelance makeup artist for NFL Network, and she said that after filing an HR complaint, the company never followed up about it with Irvin and allowed Davis to quietly leave the network to “save face.”
According to Sports Illustrated, neither Davis or Irvin responded to a request for comment on the allegations, but VP of Communications for NFL Media Alex Riethmiller issued the following statement:
“Ms. McParland brought forth allegations of inappropriate workplace conduct. NFL Media thoroughly investigated the allegations and took swift, appropriate remedial action, including severing our relationship with Mr. Davis. The NFL is committed to providing a safe work environment for all of our employees.”
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