Robert Griffin III defended FSU football from Paul Finebaum. The next day, ESPN fired him

One day after coming to Florida State’s defense against a colleague, Robert Griffin III has reportedly been fired from ESPN.

He’s not the only one with FSU ties to be let go from the “Worldwide Leader in Sports” on Thursday. Samantha Ponder, wife of former FSU quarterback Christian Ponder, also was fired in what The Athletic reported were budget cuts.

Griffin’s ouster was the most surprising, as he was fired with two years remaining on his contract. The 2011 Heisman Trophy winner from Baylor was recently considered a rising star among football analysts, with his excitement during games mirrored perhaps only by Tony Romo. Griffin was also active on social media, leading to a recent scuffle with fellow ESPN personality Paul Finebaum.

ESPN declined to comment about the firings to The Athletic and did not respond to Griffin’s comments about Finebaum.

Robert Griffin III fired a day after defending FSU football from Paul Finebaum

Griffin’s time at ESPN seemed to be running out after he was replaced on “Monday Night Countdown” with Jason Kelce before this season. Another incident may have highlighted why the network decided to part ways with him.

On Tuesday, Finebaum appeared on a “First Take” segment and said Florida State would finish the season unranked in part because of a “hangover” from missing the College Football Playoff last season.

“I think they used too many tears crying about not getting in the playoffs, and that may slow them down a little bit this year,” Finebaum said on SportsCenter.

The following day, Griffin posted a retort on the social media site formerly known as Twitter. “Anyone who is throwing shade at or trying to take cheap shots at Florida State for being left out of the College Football Playoff last year must be out of touch with reality,” he wrote.

“The players on that team, the coaches, their families…


Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/robert-griffin-iii-defended-fsu-190742853.html

Author : Tallahassee Democrat

Publish date : 2024-08-15 19:07:42

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