| Celebrated Name: | Sam Ponder |
| Real Name/Full Name: | Samantha Ponder |
| Gender: | Female |
| Age: | 38 years old |
| Birth Date: | 11 December 1985 |
| Birth Place: | Phoenix, Arizona, United States |
| Nationality: | American |
| Height: | 1.68m |
| Weight: | 56kg |
| Sexual Orientation: | Straight |
| Marital Status: | Married |
| Husband/Spouse (Name): | Christian Ponder (m. 2012) |
| Children/Kids (Son and Daughter): | Yes (Bowden Sainte-Claire Ponder) |
| Dating/Boyfriend (Name): | N/A |
| Is Sam Ponder Lesbian?: | No |
| Profession: | ESPN Sunday NFL Countdown Host |
| Salary: | N/A |
| Net Worth in 2024: | $15 Million |
| Last Updated: | November 2024 |
Samantha Ponder, popularly known as Sam Ponder, is a sportscaster and journalist who hosts ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown and previously served as a reporter at the same organization. She married the former US football player Christian Ponder on 17 December 2012. After her marriage, Sam took her married name as Sam Ponder from Sam Steele. From 2012 to 2014, she was a sideline reporter for ESPN’s Thursday Nights College Football.
Maybe you know about Sam Ponder very well, but do you know how old and tall is she and what is her net worth in 2024? If you do not know, we have prepared this article about details of Sam Ponder’s short biography-wiki, career, professional life, personal life, today’s net worth, age, height, weight, and more facts. Well, if you’re ready, let’s start.
Early Life & Biography
Sam was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and went to Central High School. After finishing high school, she later attended The King’s College, New York City. She met with college football researcher Ben Keeperman while she was applying for a job at ESPN. She was offered an internship, and later she was offered a position of researcher-assistant at ABC-TV. She graduated in 2009 and worked as a sideline reporter with Fox Sports Net and Fox College Sports. She moved to Austin, Texas, after getting the role of sideline reporter at Longhorn Network started by ESPN.
Personal Life
Sam was born to Cindi Steele and Jerry Steele, who runs the MAD Ministries foundation. She dated Christian for a while, and the couple got married on 17 December 2012 in Hudson. She follows Christianity and has a strong belief in it. After her marriage, she adopted her husband’s last name, Ponder, as Samantha Ponder.
She was blessed with a baby girl, Bowden Sainte-Claire, in July 2014. They named the girl after Bobby Bowden, who was the coach of Christian at Florida State. The boy Robinson was born in June 2017, and another daughter by the name Price was born in July 2018.
Sam became a victim of lots of online trolling and negative tweets when there were rumors that she was about to replace Chris Berman on NFL Countdown show. She was confident about being a sports reporter since her childhood and followed her passion.
Age, Height, and Weight
Being born on 11 December 1985, Sam Ponder is 38 years old as of today’s date 21st November 2024. Her height is 1.68m tall, and her weight is 58kg.
Career
She was first offered an internship at ESPN Zone, and that’s how she started her career in the industry. She landed at the job of a research assistant at ABC TV for the college football studio show. Later, Liberty Flames Sports TV Network offered her a sideline reporter job, which she left in 2009 to join Fox Sports Net and Fox College Sports. She served as a sideline reporter.
ESPN announced that it had hired three talents for its Longhorn Network, and one of them was Sam Ponder when she was just 25 years old. She left Fox after serving there for two years and joined Longhorn Network in July 2011. She currently costs ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown.
Awards & Achievements
Sam Ponder hasn’t received or been nominated for any award so far, but her contribution towards her respective profession is immense. She has worked several years for ESPN, and it is of her significant achievement.
Net Worth & Salary of Sam Ponder in 2024
The famous sports journalist and broadcaster is said to have an estimated net worth of around $15 million as of November 2024. She is supposed to have got a salary of about $39000 or maybe more while working as a sports broadcaster. She has received immense fame and fan following as a sports host at ESPN and has appeared in several TV commercials.
She earns $4.9 million annually, which is comparatively higher than the other personalities in the industry, and this became a matter of discussion in 2017 as Chris Berman had to leave as ESPN appointed her for the famous Sunday NFL Countdown pregame show.
Sam Ponder is a leading US sports broadcaster and TV personality. She achieved immense success at her young age only, and she is still working forward with the same spirit and determination. As a sports personality, she has worked with several leading sports broadcasting organizations, ESPN being one of them where she is currently the host.
She got married to Christian Ponder and perfectly balanced her married life, motherhood life, and professional life without any breakdown. A mother to three kids, she is still in the industry working day and night and emerged out as a symbol of woman empowerment.