ESPN is accused of firing NFL Countdown host Sam Ponder over her criticism of trans women in sports.
“So ESPN fires @samponder, the only woman at the network who publicly said men don’t belong in women’s sports three weeks before football season?” former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines wrote on X, echoing the comments of many others.
“Pathetic… Progressive media has become progressive,” one person responded. “This is why ESPN is failing.”
Ponder, 38, will be released two years into her three-year, $3 million contract but will receive her full salary, DailyMail.com has learned. The timing of the decision was also dictated by the proximity of the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, a source told DailyMail.com.
Ponder recently posted a comment on X about the gender controversy surrounding Olympic boxer Imane Khelif, who is accused of having XY chromosomes.
“XY=male XX=female,” Ponder wrote.
ESPN accused of firing Sam Ponder for his criticism of trans women in sports
Riley Gaines suggested Ponder was fired for her views on trans women in sports
Interestingly, Ponder will be published by ESPN at the same time as NFL analyst Robert Griffin III, who took an opposite stance on this very issue.
“Imane Khelif is a biological female and if you want to protect our daughters, you should protect her,” Griffin wrote on X about Khelif, who won gold at the Paris Olympics. “If you don’t investigate to find the truth, then we should be protected from you.”
Griffin’s firing raised similar suspicions that ESPN fired him for his opinion of Khelif.
“Did ESPN fire RG3 for this article about Imane Khelif?” journalist Chuck Modi asked on X. “Or something else?”
Ponder was not the only ESPN personality to question the International Olympic Committee’s decision to allow Khelif to compete as a woman.
On the X show, longtime college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit was asked if “men belong in the women’s game,” to which he replied, “Absolutely not. Ridiculous question.”
Herbstreit has not been fired or publicly reprimanded by the network for the comment, which Ponder applauded online.
ESPN did not fire Herbstreit, whose comments about trans women in sports were applauded by Ponder during a social media exchange earlier this month.
Like Ponder, Griffin (pictured) was fired from ESPN while making around $1 million a year.
Griffin expressed a contrary opinion to Ponder about Khelif before ESPN fired him.
Ponder is married to former Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder (pictured). The couple has three children.
Ponder, a Liberty University graduate, previously worked at Fox Sports before ESPN.
Riley Gaines testifies during a House Oversight Subcommittee meeting
Riley Gaines testifies during a House Oversight Subcommittee hearing on trans women
Ponder has not spoken publicly about his firing.
ESPN declined to comment on Ponder or Griffin’s departure when contacted by DailyMail.com.
Ponder had already expressed his opinion on the subject in May 2023 on social media.
In response to Gaines’ social media post, Ponder wrote: ‘I’ve barely said anything publicly about this issue and so many people have messaged me, stopped me on the street to say thank you, and told me stories about girls who are afraid to speak out for fear of losing their jobs or being called hateful.
Ponder, an outspoken Christian and graduate of Liberty University, is the wife of former Minnesota Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder. The couple has three children.
Meanwhile, Gaines is a former University of Kentucky swimmer who has been an outspoken critic of trans women in sports since tying trans swimmer Lia Thomas for fifth place in the 200-meter freestyle final at the 2022 NCAA Championships.