Despite tragic death, Dominiq Ponder left a mark

BOULDER, Colo. — Less than 24 hours after finding out they lost Dominiq Ponder in a car accident, the Buffaloes kicked off spring ball on Monday without its 23-year old senior quarterback. Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders brought the team together at 5 pm on Sunday to start the healing process, a process that will take time.

It should take time. Some things are bigger than football.

Football can also be therapy.

The leader of the herd gave the team the option to practice on Monday or to have the day off to process their feelings.

“It was tough meeting together, knowing what happened,” Colorado senior safety and team leader Ben Finneseth said. “We decided Dom wouldn’t have missed a day. He wouldn’t have missed a day of workouts and that is what he would have wanted for us. He would have said, ‘Life has got to move on, we have championships to win, and we still have goals and the clocks are still rolling, the world is still going to spin, don’t stop just because I am done.’

“So, obviously there were a lot of emotions yesterday and a lot of guys breaking down and tearing up, but we have to keep working. That was the biggest thing. We have to be there for each other. We still have a goal, still have a mission. This is just another why. We are going to be honoring Dom with everything we do from now on.”

First-year Colorado offensive coordinator Brennan Marion only had a couple months around Ponder before his tragic passing, but he quickly connected with and respected Ponder as his new position coach. Marion mentioned his work ethic and humility among his most impressive attributes as a Buff.

“He flash-carded my entire playbook that I gave him,” Marion said. “He picked up our freshman quarterback Kaneal Sweetwyne every day and brought him to practice. Just the little things. Every person that he touched, he made an impact on everyone in this program, whether it was offense, defense, kicker, walk-on, a coach. Dom kind of touched everybody and had an impact on everybody.

“They saw how hard he worked, how hard he wanted to prove he could play at the collegiate level as a quarterback. It is good just to see guys that want it like that. In an era where you have to force people to work hard, you had to tell Dom to stop working so hard. Just being around a kid like that, his energy was contagious as far as his work ethic.”

More of Ben Finneseth’s thoughts on Dominiq Ponder

“It sucks. Obviously you lose a brother, and to someone like myself, it is more than a brother. The biggest thing that I want us to get away from this is it can either mold us or it can tear us apart. And it’s not going to tear us apart because of the culture we are building.

“It sucks. Yesterday, you know you are going to go asleep and Dom is not going to be there but football is going to be there. So our mentality was we have to get back to work and we are going to do it for him and honor him. It sucks. I’ll be praying for his family and all of his loved ones. I got the pleasure of spending a week with his family last year during spring break. I’ll be praying for them through all this time.

“I found out yesterday after I got back from church. I was with a bunch of teammates. My roommate is his best friend so he came out and told me. And that was tough to see the look on his face. And then talked to his roomates right after that and called Coach Prime to confirm it. It sucked.

“You can’t brace for something like that. I have never really had somebody pass away that I am this close with before. It was tough. I got all my teammates and I got the Lord with me and that is all I need. I got my family. It sucks. It really does. But everything we do moving forward is going to be for him. It is hard to see God’s plan sometimes, but everything happens for a reason.”

On Ponder’s personality… “He lit up any room that he walked into. He was always smiling. I always called him ‘Fruity Light Skin’ (laughing). I loved Dom. Ugh. Ugh. (fighting back tears) Yeah, he lit up every room that he walked into. He brought the best out in the people around him. So, he is going to be missed.”

More of Brennan Marion’s thoughts on Dominiq Ponder

Statement… “Great young man, great leader for this team, strong impact on this team. Obviously getting that call yesterday from his dad, was really, very tough to get. The one thing his dad was most proud about is he knew his son would be in heaven, with the leader and young man he was.

“His family is from Pittsburgh, from the same neighborhood as me, so that made us bond together really close in these last two months that I have been here with him. Just really blessed to get the opportunity to be around that man for the time we had together. I know he would want us to be tough and move forward and work hard. That is what he was about. So, that’s what we’re going to do.”

On the decision to practice on Monday and how the players responded… “Yeah, Dom when we first started winter workouts, he gave a speech to the team about get out of your feelings and work hard every day. I think that is why the guys chose to go out there and practice today because that was Dom’s mindset, to go out there and work every day. Obviously his football story was going all over the place. He has been working his way here, loved Boulder.

“That’s what the guys wanted to do to honor him. I was proud of the guys today just of their toughness to wake up, show up, to persevere, that is what it’ll take for them to be providers as dads one day. No matter what happens, you have to show up, and they did that today. For that, I tip my hat to them, for doing that.”

On how players have responded to this tragedy… “It is hard to say that right now. I think people are still in the grieving phase. It hasn’t been 24 hours since we got the news. So, like today, I was just proud of the guys for going out there with tears in their eyes. I was proud of the guys for practicing today and toughing it out. I don’t know if we’ve rallied yet, or any of that, because it hasn’t been 24 hours.”

On supporting the players in this tough time… “Coach Prime has done a really good job of the support on the staff. Our staff actually cares about the players. They know where their families are from. Most of these guys have shared their stories and their why to the coaches, so a lot of these guys will lean on their coach and the coach will actually go pick him up at his house and get something to eat and hang out with him. That is something about our staff I like the most. We put our collective arms around the student-athletes.

“It is not just what they do on the football field. These guys will have all the love and support to overcome the situation that transpired with Dom.

“Obviously we’ve done a good job from an administration standpoint upstairs of having all the different rooms away from the coaches if they need more help. We’re not doctors, we’re coaches, dads, right? So if they need more than what we can give them, they are able to go get that.”

On the grieving process… “Everybody grieves differently. I just got the call from Dom’s dad yesterday. I was playing with my son and I just stopped, like I couldn’t move. My son is like, ‘Dad!’ I was speechless talking to Dom’s dad. I don’t know how we will all grieve, I can’t really answer that.

“I know that I have been through a lot of things and I know these coaches and players have as well. We have the type of group that adversity won’t break us, it’ll help us break records. I know that we’ll find a way to get through it and honor Dom in the way we work every day. … We’ll just save a spot in our room.”