- Colorado quarterback Dominiq Ponder died in a single-car accident on Sunday, March 1.
- The team decided to proceed with its scheduled spring practice the following day to honor Ponder’s work ethic.
- Teammates and coaches described the first practice without him as ‘heavy’ but vowed the tragedy would not tear them apart.
Colorado football players held an emergency team meeting Sunday, March 1, after the death of Colorado quarterback Dominiq Ponder and decided to start spring practice as planned on Monday instead of taking the day off.
But practice was “heavy” and the team is still processing its grief under head coach Deion Sanders.
The team chose to practice as planned because it “exemplifies the type of guy that Dom was,” Colorado running back DeKalon Taylor told reporters in Boulder on Monday after practice. “He always came to work, always had a smile on his face, always wanted to get extra work. Honestly, that was the only thing we could do, really, to give him love.”
Dominiq Ponder’s death: ‘It ain’t gonna tear us apart’
Ponder, 23, died Sunday in a single-car accident in Boulder County at about 3 a.m., according to the Colorado State Patrol. The CSP said he lost control of his Tesla trying to negotiate a right-hand curve before rolling down an embankment, where the car caught fire. Speed was considered a factor in the accident, according to the CSP.
The news shocked the team Sunday as it prepared to open the spring football season with the first of 15 spring practices on Monday.
“It can either mold us or it can tear us apart,” Colorado safety Ben Finneseth told reporters Monday in Boulder. “And it ain’t gonna tear us apart.”
Finneseth also said that Ponder’s death has given the team renewed purpose.
‘Everything that we are going to do moving forward is for him’ he said.
Who was Dominiq Ponder?
Ponder was entering his junior season as a non-scholarship player after serving last year as the team’s fourth-string quarterback. His death especially shook Colorado’s quarterback room, where the quarterbacks meet regularly and where Ponder’s energy was “contagious,” according to Colorado offensive coordinator Brennan Marion.
“We’ll just save spot for him in the room,”Marion said.
Marion said he was proud of his players for practicing Monday “with tears in their eyes.”
“I was just proud of the guys for actually going out there, practicing today and toughing it out,” Marion said.
Taylor said practice was “a little heavy at first.”
“But once coach Marion got the guys going, and we all bought in, we had no other choice but to go hard for him, you know?” Taylor said. “I felt like it was a high-effort practice today. Everybody was at least running around, doing their best effort. And if they did mess up, we messed up full-speed, and that was the only way we could do it.”
Pastor addresses Colorado football team
Pastor Keion Henderson addressed the team by video conference, as shown on Thee Pregame Network, one of Sanders’ favored YouTube channels.
“What happened just don’t make sense,” Henderson told the team. “And the beautiful thing about it is we don’t have to pretend that it does. Grief is real. Shock is real. Questions are real. But so is love. And so is legacy.”
Colorado ends spring practice with an open practice and scrimmage in Boulder on April 11.
“Adversity won’t break us,” Marion said. “It’ll help us break records.”
Sanders is scheduled to address the news media Friday. He offered a prayer on social media Monday.
“Lord help us,” Sanders wrote on social media site X. “Wrap your arms around us & give us the words to speak comfort to one another in this time of need, want & despair for many. We Love u Lord and we Trust you in Jesus name. Amen.”
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com