First the insult, then the injury.
Months after ESPN demoted former NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III from its Monday Night Countdown team, the network fired him.
Griffin and Sam Ponder, the host of Sunday NFL Countdown, both lost their jobs on Thursday. The news was first reported by The Athletic.
Griffin, who last played in the NFL in 2020, had two years left on his deal. As is usually the case in high-profile talent layoffs, ESPN will still pay out his contract.
A source familiar with the move called it a “straight business decision” aimed at cutting costs. Though both are still owed money on their contracts, there could be offsets in place if either is hired elsewhere.
Griffin in particular is certain to be in high demand; Fox Sports was said to be interested when he was ultimately hired by ESPN in 2020.
ESPN decided to replace Griffin with Jason Kelce on Countdown months ago. Griffin was set to receive an NFL-level salary while working college games this fall.
After the news broke, Griffin posted a clip from the movie Friday, where John Witherspoon’s character asks Ice Cube: “How the hell are you gonna get fired—on your day off???”
Ponder was a longtime ESPN fixture, starting at the company in 2011 and working her way up to Sunday NFL Countdown host in 2017. She had hosted the show for the last six years. Countdown was slated to be her only role at the network in 2024.
Ponder reportedly agreed to a three-year, $3 million deal in 2022.
Years ago, when ESPN briefly signed the two hosts of the Barstool Sports podcast Pardon My Take to do a show, Ponder pointed out that Barstool had an extensive history of misogyny. More recent, Ponder was accused of “bigotry” for her ill-informed comments about transgender athletes.
Griffin is no stranger to mixing it up on social media, either, and was heavily active on several platforms during the Paris Olympics. He was a world-class hurdler in high school and college before focusing on football full time after his freshman season at Baylor.
