Sam Ponder fumes over daughter playing basketball against ‘clearly…
Samantha Ponder said watching her daughter “get posted up by a boy” during a center college basketball game was “maddening” to see.
Expanding on the matter Sunday in a sequence of tweets, the former host of ESPN’s “Sunday NFL Countdown” — who has been outspoken about her views on transgender athletes — said her daughter’s team misplaced the game after playing against “obviously a naturally born boy.”
“It’s happened many times now living in NYC… yet another basketball game today where my middle school daughter is guarding an obviously naturally born boy in a girls tournament,” Ponder wrote. “The mother and father cheer while the boy is bodily and dominant against the ladies. The all ladies team loses.
Samantha Ponder prepares to go onstage at the espnW Summit held at Resort at Pelican Hill on October 2, 2018 in Newport Beach, California. Getty Images
“We’ve taught our youngsters to never make enjoyable of the child… to always be form and loving. That the mother and father are the downside. That no child is born in the flawed physique. But if I’m sincere, watching my daughter get posted up by a boy whose mother and father have deceived him in this approach is frustrating.
“To everyone saying ‘just move!’ I understand the sentiment but IMHO [in my humble opinion] NYC is the greatest American city that has lost its way. I want to fight for truth and love. I don’t want to give in to insanity and darkness. This is still America.”
Samantha Ponder and her husband, former Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder, with their three kids. Instagram/Samantha Ponder
Ponder and her husband, former Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder, are mother and father to son Robinson True, 8, and daughters Bowden “Scout” Sainte-Claire, 11, and Price, 7.
When somebody on X requested if “is there any proof to this,” Ponder replied, “I don’t need you to believe me. I’m living it. As a wise friend once told me ‘a tall man feels no need to prove his height.’”
Ponder fired again after another person said she’s “trying to keep [her] grift alive” by sharing her put up.
It’s occurred many instances now residing in NYC… yet another basketball game today the place my center college daughter is guarding an clearly naturally born boy in a ladies tournament. The mother and father cheer while the boy is bodily and dominant against the ladies. The all ladies team loses.— Samantha Steele Ponder (@samponder) October 19, 2025
“What’s the grift? what is my motivation?” Ponder said. “I can promise you I am not being paid for this honesty but I have lost millions for it.”
Ponder and Robert Griffin III have been let go by ESPN last summer season as the network altered its NFL coverage.
Ponder made waves on social media last summer season when she weighed in on controversial feminine boxer Imane Khelif, who received Olympic gold at the Paris Games.
Sam Ponder beforehand hosted “Sunday NFL Countdown.” Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP
“ENOUGH is what all of us should be saying!! Proud of this woman,” Ponder wrote, quoting a put up about Italian Angela Carini, who withdrew from her opening-round bout with Khelif.
Ponder also expressed assist for President Trump after his assassination try at a Pennsylvania rally last July.
Ponder first joined ESPN in 2011, working principally in the school soccer house. She contributed to and hosted “College GameDay” from 2012-16 and labored as an in-game sideline reporter in 2016.
She was promoted to “Sunday NFL Countdown” in 2017, becoming a member of a signature program that airs Sunday mornings previous to 1 p.m. ET kickoffs, with an analyst desk that options Randy Moss, Tedy Bruschi, Alex Smith and Rex Ryan.
ESPN’s Mike Greenberg — who also hosts “NBA Countdown” and the daily morning program “Get Up” — changed Ponder as the host of “Sunday NFL Countdown.”
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