ESPN fires Sam Ponder, who spoke up about trans inclusion in women’s sports

On Thursday, ESPN made headlines by parting ways with Sam Ponder and Robert Griffin III, a move that reverberated across the sports world. The news first broke via The Athletic and was later confirmed by ESPN to MBNEWS24 . Ponder, who served as the anchor for “Sunday NFL Countdown,” and Griffin, an analyst featured on various programs, both found themselves unexpectedly cut from the network.

Sam Ponder :

While Ponder remained silent following the announcement, Griffin took to social media platform X, humorously referencing the film “Friday” to joke about being dismissed on his day off.

Ponder’s firing, in particular, ignited a significant backlash on social media. Figures such as Riley Gaines, host of OutKick’s “Gaines for Girls” podcast, and former ESPN anchor Sage Steele were quick to voice their support for Ponder. Known for her outspoken stance on fairness in women’s sports amid the ongoing debate over transgender inclusion, Ponder also gained attention for defending Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker’s faith-based speech at Benedictine College.

A source close to the situation explained to Fox News Digital that the firings of Ponder and Griffin were purely business decisions. Griffin had already been removed from “Monday Night Countdown” in favor of newly hired Jason Kelce, a former center for the Philadelphia Eagles, and was set to receive his full salary while contributing to a lower-profile college football show. Ponder, meanwhile, was left with only one program, “Sunday NFL Countdown.”

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The source also confirmed that both Ponder and Griffin would be compensated according to the terms of their contracts.

Ponder began her tenure at ESPN on the Longhorn Network in July 2011 and steadily climbed the ranks, eventually becoming the face of one of the network’s premier NFL programs.

Griffin, a former NFL quarterback, joined ESPN in August 2022, where he provided analysis on “NFL Live” and served as a college football analyst. He joined the “Monday Night Countdown” team the same year.