Robert Griffin III and Sam Ponder Fired from ESPN

On Thursday, Robert Griffin III was fired by ESPN, as reported by Andrew Marchand of "The Athletic". Griffin had been with ESPN for the past 3 years, serving as the host of ESPN's 'Monday Night Countdown'. He was recently replaced by former Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce during the past off-season. Kelce retired from the NFL after concluding his 13-year career with the Philadelphia Eagles, during which he helped them win their franchise's first Super Bowl in 2018.

Get our free mobile app

Robert Griffin III, who was the 2012 Offensive Rookie of the Year, spent seven years in the NFL. He played as a quarterback for the Washington Commanders, Cleveland Browns, and Baltimore Ravens. Griffin also won a Heisman Trophy while playing for the Baylor Bears. The former NFL QB was recently considered a young rising star before being let go by the company.

Griffin joined ESPN in 2021, choosing their offer over one from FOX Sports. However, he was terminated with two years remaining on his contract. According to Marchand, ESPN made this decision for "financial reasons," as they believed that the former Heisman winner's "stock has fallen."

Sam Ponder, also a former host on ESPN's 'Sunday Night Countdown,' was terminated from ESPN on Thursday. Marchand stated that Ponder will potentially be replaced by 'NFL Live' host Laura Rutledge and 'Get Up' host Mike Greenburg.

Sam Ponder was entering the final year of her 3-year, $3 million contract. The former host of 'Sunday Night Countdown' only appeared on ESPN's prestigious show. According to Marchand, this made ESPN's decision easier due to Ponder only being a part of one show and "being off for basically the rest of the year," and ESPN needing to make budget cuts.

In 2017, Ponder took over for the legendary Chris Berman on 'Countdown'. She was only the 3rd person at the time to occupy this position on ESPN's prestigious NFL pregame show. In 2016, Ponder was a reporter for ABC's Saturday Night Football cast with Kirk Herbstreit and Chris Fowler, according to ESPN Press Room.

Ponder and Griffin are the first two cuts that ESPN has made for this fiscal year after massive budget cuts last year. ESPN released 20 big-time personalities such as Jeff Van Gundy, Max Kellerman, and Jalen Rose.

After the news broke, Griffin went to X (formerly known as Twitter) and posted a tweet that can be interpreted in various ways.

Griffin wrote "There are people in your circle saying they want you to win, but doing everything they can to make you lose. Don’t be afraid to cut people off when they keep handing you the scissors."

Only time will reveal what will transpire with these two outstanding sports figures and how this will influence ESPN as a whole.