Is Samantha Ponder of ESPN Married?
Who is Samantha Ponder?
Samantha Ponder is an American sportscaster. She is the host of Sunday NFL Countdown on ESPN together with analyst Matt Hasselbeck and Randy Moss among others.
Ponder previously worked as a basketball sideline reporter and a reporter for ESPN college football. She was also a regular sideline reporter for Thursday Night College Football on ESPN with Rece Davis, Jesse Palmer, and David Pollack. She has also appeared on Longhorn Network, the ESPN woned regional network in Texas.
Ponder was born in Phoenix, Arizona
Samantha Ponder was born to her parents Jerry and Cindi Steele. She was born on December 11, 1985, in Phoenix, Arizona. She currently is 37 years old. Her birth name is Samantha Sainte-Claire Steele.
Ponder studied at Central High School in Phoenix and later joined The King’s College in New York City. She then transferred to Liberty University after she was offered a job as a sideline reporter for the school’s tv network. She graduated from Liberty University in 2009.
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Samantha Ponder and her Husband have 3 Kids
Ponder is married to her husband Christian Ponder. Christian is a former American football quarterback. He played for the San Francisco 49ers, Denver Broncos, and his recent team Minnesota Vikings before retiring.
Ponder reached out to her now husband on Twitter and soon after they met for the first time. They got married on December 17, 2012, at a courthouse in Hudson, Wisconsin, and later had a formal ceremony the following year.
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Ponder and Christian welcomed their first child, Bowden Saint-Claire Ponder in 2014. They had their second child, a son called Robinson True in June 2017 and their daughter Price Anne-Drew in July 2018.
Samantha lives with her husband and children in New York City and Arizona.
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Samantha Ponder’s Salary and Net Worth
Ponder reportedly earns $1 million annually as the host of Sunday NFL Countdown. This is after signing a three-year contract worth $3 million in 2022. She has an estimated net worth ranging between $400 k to $1 million.
Samantha Ponder’s ESPN Career
Ponder’s sportscasting career began while she was still in college. She had applied for a job at ESPN Zone where she met Ben Keeperman who connected her to a researcher-assistant job at ABC-TV. Ben was a manager with ABC Sports Radio and a college football researcher.
She later worked for the Liberty Flames sports television network as a sideline reporter after transferring to Liberty University. Samantha has since worked at Fox College Sports, Fox Sports Net, Big 12, and Pac-10.
Ponder joined ESPN in 2011 as a sideline reporter. She joined the station alongside Lowell Galindo and Kevin Dunn. She began hosting college basketball and football as a sideline reporter.
Ponder was also the co-host of the Saturday 9 AM ET edition on ESPNU and College GameDay Saturdays on ESPN replacing Erin Andrews. She was also a regular sideline reporter for Thursday Night College Football on ESPN with Rece Davis, Jesse Palmer, and David Pollack.
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