ESPN reportedly axes Sam Ponder in surprise move — but many believe her criticism of men in women's sports played role

ESPN has reportedly let go of two its most recognizable on-air personalities: Samantha Ponder and Robert Griffin III.

On Thursday afternoon, Andrew Marchand of the Athletic reported on X that ESPN had fired Ponder and RGIII to cut costs.

ESPN has fired hundreds of employees in the past several years as part of larger restructuring efforts. However, this fiscal year, Ponder and Griffin appear to be the only ones getting the boot, Marchand noted.

Griffin, a former Heisman winner who spent several seasons in the NFL, most notably with the Washington Redskins, joined the network in 2021 and still had two years left on his contract.

He had also recently been demoted from his role on "Monday Night Countdown," according to the New York Post.

Griffin also appears to be taking the news in stride, posting to X a short, humorous clip from the movie "Friday" in which character Willie Jones asks his son Craig: "How the hell you gonna get fired on your day off?"

'She had the wrong politics and dumping her salary frees up cap space for ESPN to overpay Stephen A Smith.'

Ponder's apparent firing is more surprising. She has been with the network since 2011 working as a sideline reporter. She made frequent appearances on the hit show "College GameDay" and eventually become the host of "Sunday Night Countdown."

However, she has also repeatedly criticized male infiltration into sports and teams reserved for women and girls.

"What's happening to women in sports is insane," Ponder tweeted in April 2023, "and any reasonable person knows it."

A month later, she expressed support for those cowed into silence on the topic out of "fear of lost employment/being called hateful."

"It is not hateful to demand fairness in sports for girls."

Now, many believe that Ponder is the one who has "lost employment" for demanding "fairness in sports for girls." Awful Announcing noted that she had "increasingly strayed" from ESPN's request that on-air personalities "stick to sports."

Riley Gaines also weighed in, noting that with former "SportsCenter" co-host Sage Steele gone as well, the Worldwide Leader in Sports now has no woman there who wants to preserve women's sports for women only.

"So ESPN fires @samponder, the only woman at the network who was publicly said men don't belong in women's sports. 3 weeks before football season?" Gaines wrote. "Sam is one of the most beautiful, genuine women I've ever met along with @sagesteele who had a similar fate....not a coincidence."

Bobby Burack of OutKick agreed, telling Blaze News that it makes no sense for ESPN to fire Ponder, whom he described as ESPN's "lead NFL host," three weeks before the NFL season kicks off just to save a few bucks.

"Keep in mind, Sam Ponder was the only woman left at ESPN who has publicly rejected the idea that we should celebrate men for calling themselves 'trans' and competing against women in female competition," Burack told Blaze News.

Jason Whitlock, host of BlazeTV's "Fearless," also indicated to Blaze News that Ponder's "politics" almost certainly played a role in the decision.

"A lot of factors at work with ESPN releasing Sam Ponder," Whitlock told Blaze News. "She had the wrong politics and dumping her salary frees up cap space for ESPN to overpay Stephen A Smith."

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