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 The NFL Network, ESPN and Bill Simmons’ The Ringer have suspended five on-air commentators and a senior executive after allegations of sexual harassment by a former co-worker. 
  
 The former football players, including Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk, Heath Evans and Ike Taylor, allegedly groped and made sexually explicit comments to Jami Cantor when they were colleagues at the NFL Network, according to a lawsuit filed against NFL Enterprises by Cantor. 
  
 The allegations against the retired players and former NFL Network executive producer Eric Weinberger, who’s now president of sports commentator Bill Simmons’s media group, are part of a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court. An amended complaint filed Monday detailed specific acts of harassment by several individuals who aren’t named as defendants. 
  
 Weinberger sent “several nude pictures of himself and sexually explicit texts” and told Cantor she was “put on earth to pleasure me,” according to the complaint. Cantor says he also pressed his crotch against her shoulder and asked her to touch it. 
  
 Eric Weinberger Photographer: Michael Buckner/Getty Images for Variety 
  
 She said she was also sexually harassed by on-air talent. Faulk would ask Cantor “deeply personal and invasive questions” about her sex life; he also fondled her breasts and groped her behind, according to the complaint. 
  
 Heath Evans Photographer: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images 
  
 Inappropriate Photos 
  
 Taylor sent Cantor “sexually inappropriate” pictures and a video of him masturbating in the shower, according to the filing. Donovan McNabb, a former analyst, also texted her explicit comments, according to the complaint. 
  
 Faulk, Taylor and Evans have been suspended pending the investigation, said Alex Riethmiller, a spokesman for the NFL Network. McNabb now works for ESPN, which said in a statement that neither the former quarterback nor another employee identified in the complaint, Eric Davis, would appear on its networks during an NFL investigation into the allegations. 
  
 Weinberger has been suspended from Simmons’s media properties, including The Ringer website, according to a statement. He hung up the phone when reached by a Bloomberg reporter, and Simmons didn’t return emails seeking comment on the allegations. 
  
 Joel Segal, who represents Taylor, didn’t immediately return a voicemail seeking comment. Jordan Bazant, who represents Faulk and Evans, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the allegations. Representatives for McNabb didn’t immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. 
  
 Cantor first filed her case in October, claiming wrongful termination. Laura Horton, a lawyer for Cantor, said by phone, “It’s outrageous conduct and I fully intend to hold the NFL Network responsible.” 
  
 While several men across politics, media, entertainment and the technology industry have been fired over allegations of sexual harassment, this is the most sweeping indictment to surface at the intersection of sports and media. 
  
 Earlier this year, Fox Sports fired executive Jamie Horowitz after allegations of harassment; former big-league catcher and Toronto Blue Jays analyst Gregg Zaun was let go for inappropriate behavior toward female coworkers; and former NFL quarterback Warren Moon was accused of harassment. None have the star power or name recognition among casual sports fans like Faulk or McNabb. 
  
 Marshall Faulk Photographer: Abbie Parr/Getty Images 
  
 Live Programming 
  
 At the NFL Network, Weinberger helped create and oversee the network’s live programming, and when Simmons praised his professional record when he hired him. “He’s a talented guy with an impeccable reputation, someone who is uniquely equipped to help me build an innovative multimedia company from scratch,” Simmons said in a 2015 statement. 
  
 “I know from experience that you’re only as good as the people around you, and Eric is one of the very best,” he said at the time. 
  
 Cantor said she complained about the sexual advances from former NFL players to Marc Watts, the league’s talent coordinator but that he did nothing. According to the complaint, he told her, “It’s part of the job when you look the way you do.” Watts didn’t immediately respond to messages seeking comment. 
  
 Cantor said she also raised concerns about other working conditions at the network, including a failure to reimburse her for expenses and a lack of compensation for the hours she worked. She was terminated by her supervisor at the NFL in October 2016, when she was 51, and replaced by a 30-year-old, according to the complaint. 
  
 The revelations and suspensions are the latest in a series of challenges to the NFL, which is coping with falling television ratings amid player protests and public rebukes from President Donald Trump. Earlier this fall, fans witnessed a the owners’ public fight over whether to extend Commissioner Roger Goodell’s contract. 
  
 At one point, furious that Goodell suspended star running back Ezekiel Elliott after an accusation of domestic violence, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones threatened to sue his fellow owners. Jones eventually yielded, and the contract was ratified. Elliott will be eligible to play when Dallas hosts the Seattle Seahawks on Dec. 24. 
  
 The case is Cantor v. NFL Enterprises LP, BC678714, California Superior Court (Los Angeles). 
  
 — With assistance by Edvard Pettersson ||||| CLOSE Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk was among three NFL Network analysts suspended. USA TODAY Sports 
  
 An NFL Network helmet is shown before a game between the 49ers and Seahawks. (Photo: Tony Avelar, AP) 
  
 Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk was among three NFL Network analysts suspended Monday night in response to a new filing in a lawsuit brought by a former wardrobe stylist. 
  
 Faulk, Ike Taylor and Heath Evans will remain suspended "pending an investigation into these allegations," NFL Network said in a statement to USA TODAY Sports. Jami Cantor, who worked at the network for a decade, described a series of sexually inappropriate encounters with the three, along with several former NFL players and others who have worked for NFL Network, including Donovan McNabb, Warren Sapp and Eric Davis. 
  
 "I think Jami Cantor is a very courageous woman, as all women coming forward in this #metoo movement," Laura Horton, Cantor's lawyer, told USA TODAY Sports in a phone interview. "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." 
  
 On Tuesday, ESPN announced that it was suspending McNabb and Davis as it investigated the allegations. 
  
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 The allegations came in an amended complaint that is part of a civil lawsuit originally filed in Los Angeles Superior Court by Cantor in October. The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified general and punitive damages, alleges age and sex discrimination, sexual harassment that created a hostile work environment, wrongful termination and defamation. 
  
 Horton said while she could only comment about what was contained in Monday's filing, "more would come out at trial." 
  
 Bloomberg was the first outlet to report the amended complaint had been filed. 
  
 Cantor alleged that Faulk, who has been one of the NFL Network's top analysts for about a decade, greeted her by "fondling her breasts and groping her behind," according to the complaint. Faulk "became more aggressive," including one instance where he allegedly invited Cantor to his hotel room where she witnessed him expose his genitals and made sexually suggestive remarks. 
  
 Cantor also claimed Taylor forwarded “sexually inappropriate” pictures of himself, according to the filing. Horton said that she has a copy of a video sent to Cantor that allegedly shows Taylor exposing himself in the shower. 
  
 McNabb, who is currently an ESPN employee, made sexually inappropriate comments via text, asking about a specific sex act multiple times. 
  
 Evans, according to the complaint, sent Cantor nude photos of himself on at least twice and "constantly propositioned (Cantor) to have sex with him." 
  
 ESPN did not immediately respond to a message left by USA TODAY Sports on the allegations made against McNabb. Representatives for Evans, Faulk and Taylor did not immediately reply to requests for comment Tuesday morning. 
  
 The amended complaint also alleged a top executive at Bill Simmons’ media group, Eric Weinberger, of inappropriate conduct. Weinberger, who worked at NFL Network as an executive producer before joining Simmons at The Ringer, allegedly "pressed his crotch against" Cantor and asked her to "touch it," according to the filing. He also allegedly made several sexually suggestive comments. 
  
 A spokesman for The Ringer told USA TODAY Sports in a statement that Weinberger has been placed on leave pending an investigation. 
  
 "These are very serious and disturbing allegations that we were made aware of today," the statement 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." 
  
 Cantor was forced to work in the men's restroom during her tenure at NFL Network and alleged Warren Sapp, who was fired after a 2015 arrest for soliciting a prostitute, urinated in front of her. She protested, but Sapp allegedly laughed off the incident. 
  
 Per the complaint: "Sapp also gave sex toys as a Christmas gifts three years in a row, showed (Cantor) nude pictures of numerous women he claimed to have slept with, and openly talked about his sex life in front of (Cantor) and other NFL employees, including supervisors." 
  
 Cantor said she complained to Marc Watts, who worked as NFL Network's talent coordinator, about the unwanted sexual advances and comments "numerous times" and he "did nothing." 
  
 “It’s part of the job when you look the way you do," Watts allegedly told Cantor. 
  
 Davis allegedly told Cantor, “You look like a woman who knows what to do in bed." 
  
 "Mr. Davis also asked Plaintiff to have rough sex with him, and said that he wanted to choke Plaintiff from behind until Plaintiff begged him to stop," the complaint alleges. 
  
 Cantor's employment ended last year when she was accused of stealing clothes from an unspecified on-air talent member. She denies any theft and, in the filing, said security video would have vindicated her. Cantor was 51 at the time she was dismissed and claims she was replaced by a 30-year-old. 
  
 Cantor has "seen the NFL 'age-out' other older employees," according to the filing. 
  
 Contributing: Tom Schad |||||Summary:

– A wrongful dismissal lawsuit has hit the sports world with some of its first high-profile sexual misconduct claims since the #MeToo movement was sparked. Jami Cantor, a wardrobe stylist fired by NFL Network in 2016, claims she was harassed by players-turned-analysts Marshall Faulk, Heath Evans, Ike Taylor, Eric Davis, Donovan McNabb, and Warren Sapp, reports USA Today. Cantor, who worked for NFL Network for a decade, says Faulk invited her to his hotel room where he exposed his genitals and made sexually suggestive comments. She says he also greeted her by "fondling her breasts and groping her behind." Cantor alleges Taylor sent her "sexually inappropriate" photos and a video of him masturbating in the shower, per Bloomberg, while Sapp allegedly urinated in front of her, showed her nude photos of women, and gave her sex toys. Faulk, Evans, and Taylor were suspended by NFL Network Monday pending an investigation. ESPN, which now employs Davis and McNabb, says neither will appear on its networks while the NFL investigates. Former NFL Network executive producer Eric Weinberger is also now on leave at The Ringer. Cantor says Weinberger sent her "nude pictures of himself and sexually explicit texts" and once "pressed his crotch against" her, asking her to "touch it." Cantor says talent coordinator Marc Watts failed to respond to her complaints, telling her, "It's part of the job when you look the way you do." Her claims were included in an amended lawsuit filed Monday, accusing NFL Network of sex and age discrimination related to Cantor's 2016 firing. Cantor notes she was 51 when she was replaced by a 30-year-old. NFL Network claims Cantor stole clothes.