Former NFL Network employee Jami Cantor filed a lawsuit this week against NFL Enterprises, alleging sexual harassment and groping by six of her ex-colleagues. The NFL Network is owned by the NFL.
Of the six colleagues she named, five are former NFL players: Donovan McNabb, Heath Evans, Ike Taylor, Eric Davis, and NFL Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk.
Cantor — who worked as a wardrobe stylist, as Fox 5 reported — alleged that Taylor sent her lewd photographs he took from the shower. She also claims McNabb sent explicit text messages, according to Bloomberg, which first reported on the allegations. Cantor also said she was groped by Evans, Taylor and Faulk.
The report, in addition, said the men pressured Cantor to talk about her sex life.
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Though these crimes were alleged to have taken place over a 10-year span (from 2006 to 2016), the men were suspended this week for their actions. Evans, Taylor, and Faulk were suspended from the NFL Network pending an investigation — while McNabb and Davis have since been suspended by ESPN, where they had been working most recently.
After Cantor’s lawsuit was announced, former NFL sideline reporter Lindsay McCormick came forward with an alleged uncomfortable experience she endured while interviewing for a job with NFL Network. On Instagram, she posted that a male executive asked her, “If we hire you, do you plan on getting knocked up immediately like the rest of them?”
Although McCormick does not have children of her own, she said she was angry at the prospect or suggestion that some women would have to choose between having a career or a family.
In 2015, Vice compiled a list of 44 active NFL players who had been accused of sexual harassment, sexual assault, or violence against women.
This attitude allegedly displayed by people within the NFL is, alas, nothing new. The league has seen many of its players charged with the same types of crimes the players-turned-analysts are said to have committed. In 2015, Vice compiled a list of 44 active NFL players who had been accused of either sexual harassment, sexual assault, or violence against women.
The list did not even include two of the more notable sexual harassment cases against two of the top quarterbacks in league history — Brett Favre and Peyton Manning, both of whom are now retired.
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Instead of investigating issues regarding players who are paid millions of dollars to do what they do, the league tends to look the other way — so that it can continue making money off said players. Sex crimes are only a small percentage of crimes committed by NFL players, however, with NFLArrest.com reporting that an NFL player has been arrested once every seven days in this millennium.
Sexual misconduct makes up only a fraction of the crimes NFL players have committed, yet the NFL Network analysts were not the only former players accused of such a thing this month. Longtime NFL quarterback Warren Moon, who is now 61 years old, was hit with a lawsuit by his former assistant, Wendy Haskell, who accused him of making sexual advances and even trying put date rape pills into her drink during a trip to Mexico, according to The Washington Post.
With players from different generations now accused of sex crimes, the NFL has an image that is becoming more and more damaged. The allegations may also lead fans to believe that sexual harassment and assault have been issues plaguing the league for decades.
To be sure, sexual misconduct allegations against pro athletes are hardly the downpour the country has seen against people in other industries, such as in entertainment and politics. But at a time the NFL is looking at declining TV ratings and attendance at games, the latest revelations are hardly helpful to a brand that has yet to bounce back from the national anthem controversy.
Tom Joyce is a freelance writer from the South Shore of Massachusetts. He covers sports, pop culture, and politics and has contributed to The Federalist, Newsday, ESPN, and other outlets.
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