Riley Gaines suggests Sam Ponder's ESPN dismissal centered around her views on protecting women's sports

Sam Ponder's nearly 13-year run at ESPN came to an end this week. On Thursday, The Athletic reported that the network has parted ways with the "Sunday NFL Countdown" host.

Ponder is believed to have had time remaining on her seven-figure contract. However, the company's ongoing effort to explore opportunities to cut costs as the end of the organization's fiscal year draws near prompted the decision to fire the TV host, according to The Athletic. A source familiar with Ponder's dismissal also told Fox News Digital that it was a business decision.

The former Kentucky swimmer and the host of OutKick’s "Gaines for Girls" podcast floated a different theory about ESPN's decision to move on from Ponder.

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Samantha Ponder speaks at Inside the Game Q&A presented by IFA on February 2, 2018, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Thaddaeus McAdams/WireImage)

"So ESPN fires Sam Ponder, the only woman at the network who was publicly said men don’t belong in women’s sports. 3 weeks before football season?" Gaines posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday. "Sam is one of the most beautiful, genuine women I’ve ever met along with Sage Steele who had a similar fate….not a coincidence."

Gaines further defended Ponder and said the television host was "incredible at her job."

"We saw just this week where Sam Ponder, one of the – I have had the pleasure of being able to spend some time with her," Gaines said during a recent episode of "Gaines for Girls." 

"One of the most beautiful, kind, authentic, genuine, intentional people you could ever meet on a personal level, of course she is incredible at her job. We saw this week where ESPN, yes that’s right, ESPN, owned by Disney of course, fired Sam Ponder."

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Gaines pushed back against the belief that Ponder was let go for budgetary reasons, and highlighted the instances when the sports host shared social media posts about transgender athletes participating in women's sports. 

"This was news to me, I was looking up what was the reasoning, they said this was for budget cuts, but it should be no surprise that Sam Ponder was the only current employee, the only current female employee at ESPN who was willing to publicly declare that men do not belong in women’s sports. Just about a year ago, Sam, she quoted one of my tweets talking about the Biden administration and Title IX and what they were doing to this ruling effectively abolishing Title IX."

Former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines speaks at an event. (Michael Clevenger/Courier Journal / USA Today Network)

"She quoted one of my tweets and said that it wasn’t hateful to demand fairness in sports for girls. Then USA Today columnist Nancy Armor, she then attacked Ponder for her views. She claimed that her views reflected bigotry and they were a sham. Ponder, she has been the host of ESPN’s NFL Countdown since 2017, she went on to then respond to this article by Nancy Armor saying that biology is not bigotry and even went on to say that loving people does not require the absence of boundaries. Absolutely."

Gaines also compared Ponder's dismissal to former "SportsCenter" anchor Sage Steele's exit from the network.

"But now she has received the Sage Steele treatment, the David Pollack treatment, both guests who have been interviewed on the Gaines for Girls podcast and so I encourage you to go back and listen to those episodes. All of that to say, ESPN is a joke, we absolutely stand with Sam Ponder. Again, one of the most incredible women I’ve ever met, so it’s ESPN’s loss. No doubt she will land her feet, she will be doing."

Then-ESPN anchor Sage Steele talks on set during Game Four of the NBA Finals between the Toronto Raptors and the Golden State Warriors on June 7, 2019, at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. (Rey Josue II/NBAE via Getty Images)

Steele filed a lawsuit against her then-employer after she claimed that ESPN had suspended her in retaliation for remarks she made related to Disney's COVID-19 vaccine mandate during a podcast appearance. Disney is ESPN's parent company.

"I respect everyone’s decision, I really do, but to mandate it is, um, sick," Steele said in September 2021 when she was a guest on NFL quarterback Jay Cutler's "Uncut" podcast.

"And it’s scary to me in many ways. But I have a job, a job that I love, and, frankly, a job that I need. But, again, I love it. I’m not surprised it got to this point, especially with Disney, a global company . . . but it was actually emotional."

Shortly after reaching a settlement with ESPN in 2023, Sage announced her exit from the company after 16 years.

Steele decided to leave what she described as her "dream job" in the hopes she could exercise her "First Amendment rights more freely."

Steele also offered support for Ponder on Friday and expressed excitement about the now-former ESPN employee's future prospects.

"This is another loss for ESPN, but it is a gain for literally the rest of the world because now you’re going to see the true Sam Ponder," Steele said in a video posted to social media. "It’s all going to come out, and I hope you’re ready. She is a gem."

Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy also reacted to the news of Ponder's firing.

"No Sam Ponder bottle, can you believe that?" Portnoy said on Thursday. "Listen, I took the first shot at Sam Ponder. Was it joking? Yeah. Do I think she and ESPN overreacted? I know so. But I’m fair. And I’ve said this about Ponder, buried the axe, buried the hatchet. I have no champagne bottle for her."

Ponder and Portnoy were embroiled in a feud in 2018. Shortly before "Barstool Van Talk" was scheduled to premiere on ESPN, Portnoy suggested that Ponder had been the catalyst behind the show's demise, which led to a war of words between the two. "Barstool Van Talk" was canceled after just one episode.

Sam Ponder attends SiriusXM At Super Bowl LVII on February 10, 2023, in Phoenix, Arizona.  (Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SiriusXM)

Ponder was not the only prominent ESPN personality to publicly express views on transgender athletes. As controversy surrounding Olympic boxer Imane Khelif grew, NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky shared a post on X which read, "Protect our daughters." Orlovsky later deleted the post.

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Longtime "College GameDay" analyst Kirk Herbstreit said he no longer plans on "biting his tongue" about athletes' participation in sports.

"It’s almost like there are two different sets of rules," Herbstreit said on Tuesday during an appearance on OutKick’s "Don’t @ Me! with Dan Dakich." 

" . . . and if you have a view that’s a little bit more traditional — I’m a Christian guy, it’s like there’s a different set of rules for that viewpoint and it’s hard to just turn the other cheek time after time after time. I didn’t really care."

Ponder has yet to publicly address ESPN's decision to part ways with her.

ESPN also fired former NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III on Thursday. He joined the company in 2022 and worked as an analyst on "NFL Live." He was also a college football analyst and appeared on "Monday Night Countdown." Former Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce was tapped as Griffin's replacement on the NFL pregame show entering the 2024 season. 

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