Former NFL fullback Heath Evans is officially out at NFL Network, months after being taken off the air following the filing of a sexual harassment lawsuit that accused him and others of workplace misconduct. Evans has taken to Twitter to begin to tell his side of the story.
In a statement posted on social media, Evans claims that “the allegations made against me are simply not true and . . . I can prove it.” He says that NFL Network “strongly urged” him not to mount a public defense, but instead to “let them handle the allegations in a confidential manner and essentially trust them with my reputation. . . . I decided to honor their request and reluctantly agreed to remain silent.”
Evans explains that he first became aware of the allegations in October 2017, weeks before the subject became part of a public filing in court.
At paragraph 23(g) of the amended complaint filed against NFL Network, Jami Cantor contends that Evans “sent nude pictures of himself on at least two occasions,” that he “constantly propositioned Plaintiff to have sex with him,” and that he “made several sexually inappropriate comments to Plaintiff, such as, ‘you’re making me horny,’ and ‘needed to get in you deep and hard.’”
“I immediately told the Network that approximately two years ago, my accuser and I had exchanged mutual flirtations that included her sending me and me sending her pictures of a sexual nature,” Evans says. “I regret having engaged in the picture exchange. Nothing ever came of the mutual flirtations and we remained friends during and after her employment ended at the Network.”
Evans has posted a text message he says he received from Cantor 30 days before becoming aware of the allegations. In the message, Cantor requests a recommendation from Evans for a personal trainer.
“I provided the Network with these texts, turned over my current and old cell phone and earnestly participated in their discovery process,” Evans explains. “After providing the NFL Network with the evidence, the Network kept me on the air and seemingly went to bat for me. When then reports came out that the NFL Network had settled the lawsuit with my accuser, the NFL Network immediately started threatening to fire me with cause if I wouldn’t sign their silencing agreements. In exchange for signing, they offered to pay out my contract and allow me to handle the language and my resignation letter. After refusing to sign their silencing agreements multiple times the NFL fired me Friday evening July 27th.”
This seems to mean that: (1) the NFL has settled Cantor’s lawsuit; (2) the league offered Evans a severance agreement in exchange for his agreement to sign a confidentiality agreement restricting his ability to talk about the situation; (3) Evans refused to sign it; and (4) NFL Network fired him.
“As I tried to explain to the NFL Network, my name and reputation mean too much to me for me to cave to their threats and not clear my name,” Evans now says. “So, I will be presenting information that tells the whole truth which apparently the NFL doesn’t want the public to know. The whole truth will include experiences not only pertaining to my accuser but also other women who work at the NFL Network and what they have been subjected to and have had to endure in order to keep the jobs they have worked their entire careers for. The truth may surprise you!”
Evans claims to have no animosity toward his accuser, which is a tough balance to strike given that he believes she made false accusations against him. But he still intends to tell the whole story, which necessarily arises from his position that Cantor lied about him. But Evans apparently will also be pointing the finger at former coworkers regarding their treatment of female coworkers, which could eventually make the NFL regret not offering Evans enough compensation to get him to sign the confidentiality agreement and move on.