ESPN has fired a host who recently voiced opposition to female-identifying men competing in women’s sports.
On Thursday, The Athletic reported that ESPN has terminated the contract of “Sunday NFL Countdown” host Samantha Ponder, a longtime reporter for the network who previously covered college football. Former NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III was also fired by the Disney-owned outlet.
Sources who reportedly spoke with The Athletic and Fox News claimed both sportscasters were let go due to “financial reasons.”
The timing of Ponder’s firing is suspect, however, given that it came days after the ESPN host voiced opposition to trans-identifying men participating in women’s sports.
The moment came on Aug. 6, when ESPN “College Gameday” host Kirk Herbstreit responded to an X post asking if “men belong in women’s sports.”
“Of course not. Ridiculous question,” the former Ohio State quarterback wrote.
Ponder replied to Herbstreit’s tweet with two clapping hands emojis, at which point an X user told her to “[d]efine woman and man” and asked if “a woman [with] XX chromosomes but extremely high testosterone” is considered a woman. In her response, the sportscaster wrote: “XY= male XX= female.”
The incident was hardly the first time Ponder, a Christian, has spoken out in defense of women’s sports. According to Outkick, “Ponder first commented on the issue in May 2023, reminding her followers that it is ‘not hateful to demand fairness in sports for girls.’”
“I barely said anything publicly abt this issue & I’ve had so many ppl
