BIG MOVE

ESPN’s Samantha Ponder opens up on new role as host of venerable ‘Sunday NFL Countdown’

Little more than six years after joining ESPN as an original staff member of the Longhorn Network in Austin, Samantha Ponder steps this fall into one of the most significant on-air roles at the network, succeeding Chris Berman as host of “Sunday NFL Countdown.” Ponder, 32, in an interview scheduled through her role as a spokesperson for XYIENCE Energy Drink, discussed her career, her new role and the occasionally trying times of being the wife of an NFL quarterback (free agent Christian Ponder, a former Dallas-Fort Worth area star at Colleyville Heritage).

Everyone who has had the reporter’s role at Longhorn Network has gone on to success elsewhere (Ponder at ESPN, Kaylee Hartung at ESPN and CNN and Jane Slater at NFL Network). Is that job a good stepping stone?

A: That’s mostly a result of Stephanie Druly (the ESPN executive who graduated from Conroe High School and Texas) being great at finding women who care passionately about the game and are comfortable in their skin.

I loved Austin. Some of my greatest days were working at Longhorn Network. We would move back there in a minute if we weren’t settled in Phoenix (Ponder’s hometown).

Christian is a free agent. Do you expect him to play in 2017?

A: That’s up to him. He has been more picky than I would have expected in terms of what is a good fit and where he wants to be.

It would make my job easier if he quit, but I want him to try to reach whatever dreams he has. He has a variety of dreams and interests. He is not totally defined by football.

We saw him last season (when Ponder played for the 49ers) three times for two days at a time, which is rough when you have kids because you want to do this thing together. But this is a season of our lives. This isn’t permanent, so we embrace whatever the current season is.

With family issues

in mind, what are your thoughts about stepping in for Chris Berman and your thoughts on these difficult times for Chris’ family (Berman’s wife, Kathy, was killed in a May 10 auto accident)?

A: This is a man who worked his butt off for years and had an incredibly busy schedule. He has more free time now with less on his plate, and to lose your partner and best friend as you step into this new phase of life is just heartbreaking. All my prayers and condolences go out to the family.

In terms of taking over his role and filling his shoes, that’s an impossible task. It’s not even on my radar. You can’t be like Chris Berman. If try to be a version of that, people will see right through me. People want you to be who you are, and who I am is somebody who was born the year he started on the show, so I’m not going to be up there telling people stories about the good old days in the NFL. That’s not my role.

What do you expect your role to be?

A: My role is to be a facilitator and be part of interesting conversations that are nuanced and sometimes difficult to have. These days in the NFL, we’ve gotten more accustomed about talking about some of the messiness, and sometimes that will be my role. Sometimes my role will be to have a blast on Sunday mornings. I hope that people will get the same vibe we got on “College GameDay,” which is so much fun to watch.

Chris Berman reached out when (her appointment) was announced, and I told him I could never be a tenth of what he has meant to this industry. I hope our show from this point on makes him proud and that he can look back and say that we took that baby and took care of it.

You have discussed some of the verbal abuse you endured when your husband was struggling for the Vikings and you were pregnant with your first child. How do you view those days in retrospect?

A: It was really good for me, and I would not have said that at the time. I would have said ‘Get me out of here.’ But, looking back, it showed me so much about myself and help me relate to people in a different way.

You’ve had some tough times with critical comments on Twitter. What do you think of the platform?

A: As long as you have a firm foundation elsewhere in your life, Twitter can be a great thing. But it can get out of hand.