What we know about ESPN’s firing of Robert Griffin III and Samantha Ponder
With both the NFL analyst and the host of “NFL Countdown” being let go, questions have understandably been asked about why the decision was taken.
As seen in the recent spat between the NBA and TNT, the world of sports media can be a dog-eat-dog world. Indeed, that’s precisely why ESPN’s high-profile dismissals may be shocking, but they are by no means surprising.
ESPN fires Robert Griffin III and Samantha Ponder
According to a report from The Athletic, ESPN has taken the decision to dismiss Robert Griffin III and Samantha Ponder. Where motivations are concerned, it is understood that the decisions were budgetary-based. Yet, it must be said that the timing of the dismissals does come as a surprise with Week 1 of the 2024-25 NFL season now just a few weeks away. Also, it was just recently that Ponder herself hosted ‘Sunday NFL Countdown’, the show with which her name has become synonymous.
Where Griffin is concerned, we find a similar situation. Having joined ESPN in 2021, he was considered a rising star at the network and was often featured on their hugely popular morning shows in addition to maintaining a central role on ‘Monday Night Countdown’, though it must be said he was recently replaced by former Philadelphia Eagles star Jason Kelce who retired this past season. It is understood that Griffin had two years remaining on his contract for which he will now be paid out by the network.
Ponder’s situation is a little more perplexing in that she first joined ESPN more than a decade ago in 2011, when she began working as a reporter for college football and basketball broadcasts, as well as the Longhorn Network. In 2017, she took over as the host of “NFL Countdown” and since then has continued to build her profile as one of the business’ best. That of course begs the question as to what went wrong. Ultimately, neither has given any official comment, but Griffin did reference the decision with a humorous post of a clip from the comedy ‘Friday.’