Sam Ponder’s almost 13-year run at ESPN got here to an finish this week. On Thursday, The Athletic reported that the community has parted methods with the “Sunday NFL Countdown” host.
Ponder is believed to have had time remaining on her seven-figure contract. Nonetheless, the corporate’s ongoing effort to discover alternatives to chop prices as the top of the group’s fiscal 12 months attracts close to prompted the choice to fireside the TV host, in line with The Athletic. A supply acquainted with Ponder’s dismissal additionally advised Fox Information Digital that it was a enterprise determination.
The previous Kentucky swimmer and the host of OutKick’s “Gaines for Women” podcast floated a unique idea about ESPN’s determination to maneuver on from Ponder.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
Samantha Ponder speaks at Contained in the Sport Q&A offered by IFA on February 2, 2018, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Thaddaeus McAdams/WireImage)
“So ESPN fires Sam Ponder, the one lady on the community who was publicly mentioned males don’t belong in girls’s sports activities. 3 weeks earlier than soccer season?” Gaines posted on X, previously Twitter, on Thursday. “Sam is among the most stunning, real girls I’ve ever met together with Sage Steele who had the same destiny….not a coincidence.”
Gaines additional defended Ponder and mentioned the tv host was “unimaginable at her job.”
“We noticed simply this week the place Sam Ponder, one of many – I’ve had the pleasure of with the ability to spend a while along with her,” Gaines mentioned throughout a latest episode of “Gaines for Women.”
“Probably the most stunning, sort, genuine, real, intentional individuals you possibly can ever meet on a private degree, in fact she is unimaginable at her job. We noticed this week the place ESPN, sure that’s proper, ESPN, owned by Disney in fact, fired Sam Ponder.”
ESPN LAYS OFF LONGTIME HOSTS IN MAJOR SHAKEUP
Gaines pushed again towards the idea that Ponder was let go for budgetary causes, and highlighted the situations when the sports activities host shared social media posts about transgender athletes taking part in girls’s sports activities.
“This was information to me, I used to be trying up what was the reasoning, they mentioned this was for price range cuts, however it must be no shock that Sam Ponder was the one present worker, the one present feminine worker at ESPN who was keen to publicly declare that males don’t belong in girls’s sports activities. Nearly a 12 months in the past, Sam, she quoted one in every of my tweets speaking in regards to the Biden administration and Title IX and what they had been doing to this ruling successfully abolishing Title IX.”
Former College of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines speaks at an occasion. (Michael Clevenger/Courier Journal / USA Right this moment Community)
“She quoted one in every of my tweets and mentioned that it wasn’t hateful to demand equity in sports activities for ladies. Then USA Right this moment columnist Nancy Armor, she then attacked Ponder for her views. She claimed that her views mirrored bigotry and so they had been a sham. Ponder, she has been the host of ESPN’s NFL Countdown since 2017, she went on to then reply to this text by Nancy Armor saying that biology just isn’t bigotry and even went on to say that loving individuals doesn’t require the absence of boundaries. Completely.”
Gaines additionally in contrast Ponder’s dismissal to former “SportsCenter” anchor Sage Steele’s exit from the community.
“However now she has obtained the Sage Steele remedy, the David Pollack remedy, each friends who’ve been interviewed on the Gaines for Women podcast and so I encourage you to return and take heed to these episodes. All of that to say, ESPN is a joke, we completely stand with Sam Ponder. Once more, one of the vital unimaginable girls I’ve ever met, so it’s ESPN’s loss. Little question she’s going to land her toes, she will probably be doing.”
Then-ESPN anchor Sage Steele talks on set throughout Sport 4 of the NBA Finals between the Toronto Raptors and the Golden State Warriors on June 7, 2019, at Oracle Area in Oakland, California. (Rey Josue II/NBAE by way of Getty Photos)
Steele filed a lawsuit towards her then-employer after she claimed that ESPN had suspended her in retaliation for remarks she made associated to Disney’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate throughout a podcast look. Disney is ESPN’s dad or mum firm.
“I respect everybody’s determination, I actually do, however to mandate it’s, um, sick,” Steele mentioned in September 2021 when she was a visitor on NFL quarterback Jay Cutler’s “Uncut” podcast.
“And it’s scary to me in some ways. However I’ve a job, a job that I really like, and, frankly, a job that I would like. However, once more, I find it irresistible. I’m not stunned it acquired thus far, particularly with Disney, a worldwide firm . . . however it was really emotional.”
Shortly after reaching a settlement with ESPN in 2023, Sage introduced her exit from the corporate after 16 years.
Steele determined to depart what she described as her “dream job” within the hopes she may train her “First Modification rights extra freely.”
Steele additionally provided assist for Ponder on Friday and expressed pleasure in regards to the now-former ESPN worker’s future prospects.
“That is one other loss for ESPN, however it’s a acquire for actually the remainder of the world as a result of now you’re going to see the true Sam Ponder,” Steele mentioned in a video posted to social media. “It’s all going to return out, and I hope you’re prepared. She is a gem.”
Barstool Sports activities founder Dave Portnoy additionally reacted to the information of Ponder’s firing.
“No Sam Ponder bottle, are you able to consider that?” Portnoy mentioned on Thursday. “Hear, I took the primary shot at Sam Ponder. Was it joking? Yeah. Do I believe she and ESPN overreacted? I do know so. However I’m truthful. And I’ve mentioned this about Ponder, buried the axe, buried the hatchet. I’ve no champagne bottle for her.”
Ponder and Portnoy had been embroiled in a feud in 2018. Shortly earlier than “Barstool Van Discuss” was scheduled to premiere on ESPN, Portnoy advised that Ponder had been the catalyst behind the present’s demise, which led to a disagreement between the 2. “Barstool Van Discuss” was canceled after only one episode.
Sam Ponder attends SiriusXM At Tremendous Bowl LVII on February 10, 2023, in Phoenix, Arizona. (Cindy Ord/Getty Photos for SiriusXM)
Ponder was not the one outstanding ESPN persona to publicly specific views on transgender athletes. As controversy surrounding Olympic boxer Imane Khelif grew, NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky shared a put up on X which learn, “Defend our daughters.” Orlovsky later deleted the put up.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Longtime “Faculty GameDay” analyst Kirk Herbstreit mentioned he now not plans on “biting his tongue” about athletes’ participation in sports activities.
“It’s virtually like there are two totally different units of guidelines,” Herbstreit mentioned on Tuesday throughout an look on OutKick’s “Don’t @ Me! with Dan Dakich.”
” . . . and when you have a view that’s a bit bit extra conventional — I’m a Christian man, it’s like there’s a unique algorithm for that viewpoint and it’s arduous to simply flip the opposite cheek time after time after time. I didn’t actually care.”
Ponder has but to publicly deal with ESPN’s determination to half methods along with her.
ESPN additionally fired former NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III on Thursday. He joined the corporate in 2022 and labored as an analyst on “NFL Dwell.” He was additionally a university soccer analyst and appeared on “Monday Night time Countdown.” Former Philadelphia Eagles heart Jason Kelce was tapped as Griffin’s alternative on the NFL pregame present getting into the 2024 season.
Observe Fox Information Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox Information Sports activities Huddle e-newsletter.
