Free Republic

Griffin, who as recently as last year had been viewed as a rising star at ESPN, had two years remaining on his deal.. ESPN has fired “Sunday NFL Countdown” host Samantha Ponder and analyst Robert Griffin III, ... The buyouts of Ponder and Griffin are the only moves ESPN is making at the moment, but it could choose to shed more salary by the end of September. However, the cuts are not expected to be anywhere near the bloodletting in which around 20 big names were let go last June, including stalwarts like Jeff Van Gundy, Suzy Kolber and Jalen...

SNIP The NFL reportedly has 650,000 emails from the NFL’s workplace misconduct investigation into the Washington Football Team, but the only ones that have seen the light of day are the unhinged ones from Gruden. Maybe there are no more of interest, but why are some being protected and others not? SNIP The NFL did not suspend Daniel Snyder. The NFL did not say anything of substance about its findings. The NFL’s Brian McCarthy said, “Based on the material that we have reviewed, we haven’t identified anything that needed to be reported to club or league leadership” SNIP But the...

It was a mere two years ago that Michael Smith was one of the franchise faces of ESPN. He and his tag-team partner, Jemele Hill, had matching four-year, $10 million contracts and were out front on what was supposed to be a fresher, hipper 6 p.m. “SportsCenter.” Today, Smith is in a gold-plated purgatory, nearly ostracized by ESPN. He is rarely on-air and, according to sources, there is no current plan for his final two years at the network.