Sam Ponder Gets Real - a podcast by The Football Girl

A year ago Sam Ponder was given the biggest of shoes to fill when she replaced Chris Berman as host of Sunday NFL Countdown on ESPN. In this wide-ranging convo, Ponder discusses the myriad ways Year 2 has been much more comfortable than Year 1, some of which may have to do with how she inspires Rex Ryan to dance during commercial breaks!

Ponder also delves into motherhood including how her newborn's recent emergency surgery has drastically changed her perspective on parenting. Plus how she's truly trying to live family first, job second.

Finally, Ponder talks about the incessant harassment she receives and offers her thoughts on why ESPN almost giving a show to a notoriously misogynistic outlet would have been a mistake.

The Rundown:

1:15: Why the 49ers shouldn’t make a play for a QB

4:20: How to improve the Super Bowl halftime show

SAM PONDER JOINS

10:28: Ponder on the traumatic experience and silver lining of her newborn needing emergency surgery at three days old

17:00: Ponder on shifting her life to truly prioritize her children

23:15: Ponder on the challenges of Year 1 of Countdown and why she believes Year 2 is much improved.

28:15: How Ponder brings the fun during the commercial breaks of Countdown

30:09: The difficulty of hosting a pregame show last year when the anthem protest dominated headlines

35:10: Ponder on gender and feeling a responsibility to succeed

38:20: Ponder on how she felt when ESPN was going to give a show to a notably misogynistic outlet that has incessantly harassed her

42:15: The Twitter filter that has saved Ponder a lot of time

50:05: Ponder on how harassment of her and other female sports journalists gets better

56:12: Our Do-Gooder of the Week is Larry Fitzgerald.

Follow Sam on Twitter: @sam_ponder

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