Sam Ponder appeared again on her ESPN firing after her former colleague Suzy Kolber shared emotional particulars of being laid off by the Worldwide Chief in 2023 after three a long time on-air.
Ponder, the previous host of “Sunday NFL Countdown,” mentioned she obtained a name from Kolber after being let go as a part of the community’s cost-cutting layoffs in August 2024.
“Suzy might have simply been a jerk to me after I began on ‘Countdown’ however she was extremely form and inspiring,” Ponder, who was at ESPN for 14 years, wrote on X in a quote tweet that includes Kolber’s interview with Sports activities Enterprise Journal.
“I bear in mind feeling prefer it was a little bit bizarre that ESPN mentioned nothing publicly, solely leaking my firing in order that I received a NY Instances notification on my cellphone that I used to be out, after they fired me after 14 years there.
“Suzy known as me quickly after and I used to be rapidly reminded what a idiot I used to be to anticipate the rest. If anybody deserved a thanks, it was her. She is an absolute legend and I remorse that I didn’t present extra apparent deference to her whereas I used to be nonetheless there. She is so stylish and gracious and I’m so glad she’s gotten to be ‘simply’ a volleyball mother these previous few years. Nothing higher.”
Kolber opened up for the primary time publicly on her painful exit from ESPN after 27 years in an interview with SBJ.
She defined that essentially the most emotional a part of being laid off was that the corporate by no means acknowledged her departure regardless of being one of the crucial well-known on-air abilities, having helped launch ESPN2 in 1993.
“Most likely essentially the most emotional factor was [Former ESPN exec] Norby [Williamson] saying to me [ESPN was] not going to say something,” Kolber recalled. “I used to be the primary particular person employed for the launch of ESPN2. I used to be the primary particular person assigned to the X Video games. I used to be a part of ‘Monday Night time Soccer’’s transfer to ESPN. I used to be a part of some fairly massive franchises. I used to be like, ‘You’re not gonna say a phrase? Not thanks for 27 years. Simply acknowledge it?’
“I didn’t perceive that. So I created a [Twitter] publish and alerted [ESPN NFL insider] Adam Schefter, who has so many followers. I advised Adam I’m gonna publish this [and asked] ‘Are you able to repost for me?’
“Additionally Chris LaPlaca, who was a longtime government at ESPN and in PR, he additionally knew I used to be gonna publish and mentioned we’ll repost. I crafted it, and as quickly as I noticed [the post] go stay, I had a very good three to 5 minutes of full-on sobbing. It was actual.”
Kolber defined that she took a 39 % pay reduce as a part of her contract previous to being laid off as a result of “ESPN was negotiating with a famous person, up-and-coming, youthful particular person and I knew they have been providing to triple that particular person’s wage.”
She mentioned her “pushback” on the contract was that she had labored year-round and needed her life again to spend time together with her then 14-year-old daughter.
“I considered how a lot I cherished what I’m doing. I cherished the individuals I labored with. I took all of that into consideration and mentioned it’s not in regards to the cash,” Kolber mentioned. “I need to maintain doing this.
“However my pushback to the corporate [on the contract] was I’ve labored year-round my entire profession and my daughter is 14 and we’ve by no means taken a spring break collectively as a result of I’m prepping the draft and my summer season ends at coaching camp. I needed my life again, and that’s when my assignments have been pulled again to only Monday nights and the NFL draft and the Tremendous Bowl. Up till then, I used to be working year-round and full time. I did suppose the 39% reduce was going to get me to the top [of the contract].”
