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Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders delivered an emotional eulogy at the funeral of his second-year quarterback, Dominiq Ponder, who died in a tragic car accident last week. Ponder was 23 years old.
Sanders stepped up to the microphone after Ponder’s family and said it “didn’t feel right” to do so, but he couldn’t help but feel “inspired” by her words.
Then Sanders, a spiritual man in his own right, began to speak.
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Bethune-Cookman QB Dominiq Ponder takes a throw during the Wildcats spring game on Saturday, April 22, 2023 at Daytona Stadium. (IMAGE)
“We always wonder why this happened… ‘God, why this and why that?'” Sanders said.
“When we succeed, excel, and overcome adversity, we never ask God, ‘Why?’ then. Only in our disappearance and sadness from life, we challenge and ask God: ‘Why?’ “I think I have the solution.”
Sanders then began to talk about his former interlocutor.
“As I look there and see a young man so full of life, so full of respect, activity, hard work and integrity, I ask God, ‘Really?’ And he whispered: “Dom was chosen.”
“Dom was chosen to bring them all together, to bring them all together. Dom was chosen.”
“Coach Prime” directed part of his eulogy to Ponder’s parents, leading him to feel understandably choked up at the podium.
“The only thing I regret is that when you sent us a boy, I wanted to send you back a man,” Sanders said, pausing to try to control his emotions.
Ponder had been a quarterback with the Buffaloes in Sanders’ first season, as he tried to set up his team. He already had his son, Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders, ready to start with Colorado after his success at Jackson State. But Ponder and others in the quarterback room were looking to work and develop under the elder Sanders’ tutelage.
Colorado head coach Deion Sanders watches his players warm up before an NCAA college football game against Utah, Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025, in Salt Lake City, Utah. (AP Photo/Tyler Tate)
Ponder played in two of the Buffaloes’ games last season.
But while Sanders feels sorry for Ponder, his parents praised him and issued a statement thanking “Coach Prime” for his “unwavering generosity, support and love shown to our family.” They also thanked everyone for their “sincere gratitude” in a separate statement.
Sanders called an emergency meeting with his Buffaloes staff after learning of Ponder’s death, and a raw scene shared on social media showed him comforting emotional players. Sanders himself was emotional as he gave a speech to his team.
“His character, humor, work ethic and tenacity. It’s something I want us to remember,” he said in the clip.
Colorado head coach Deion Sanders watches his team warm up before an NCAA college football game against TCU on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, in Fort Worth, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutiérrez)
Sanders also confirmed Ponder’s death last Sunday with a social media post.
“God, please comfort Ponder’s family, friends and loved ones,” Sanders wrote on social media. “Dom was one of my favorites! He was loved, respected, and a born leader. Let us pray for all who knew him and had the opportunity to be in his presence. Lord, you are getting a good 1. Comfort us, Lord, comfort us.”
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