Sam Ponder’s previous comments on transgender athletes are going viral again following her release from ESPN.
Ponder, who took over hosting ‘Sunday NFL Countdown’ for the network in 2017, was fired on Thursday. The Worldwide Leader in Sports also let Robert Griffin III go.
The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand, who broke the story, reported that the firings were budget-related. Still, there has been lots of speculation over whether what she had to say about transgender athletes last year had something to do with the decision to terminate her.
Several social media accounts, including that of swimmer Riley Gaines, have implied that Ponder was fired because she opposed men’s participation in women’s sports.
“I barely said anything publicly abt this issue & I’ve had so many ppl msg me, stop me in the street to say thank you + tell me stories abt girls who are afraid to speak up for fear of lost employment/being called hateful,” the sportscaster. “It is not hateful to demand fairness in sports for girls.”
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Sam Ponder Stuck To Her Guns
Ponder’s tweet was a polarizing one. While she was lauded for speaking out against the woke agenda, lots of people accused her of bigotry.
She refused to back down from the take and, just earlier this month, tipped her hat to Kirk Herbstreit for saying men do not belong in women’s sports, adding he does not care about the backlash.
“I’m done giving any s***s at all about any of it. It’s almost like there are two different sets of rules, and if you have a view that’s a little more traditional, or I’m a Christian guy, it’s like there is a different set of rules for that viewpoint,” he told OutKick in an interview. “It’s hard to just turn the other cheek time after time after time.”
Given her talent, Sam Ponder will likely land another media job soon. But ESPN has to figure out who’s going to replace her now.
