Colorado footballcoachDeion Sandersdelivered a eulogy for quarterbackDominiq Ponderon Saturday, March 7, telling Ponder's family, friends and teammates that Ponder was "chosen" by God to unite themafter dying in a car accident March 1at age 23.
Sanders gave the final tribute, speaking for about four minutes at a memorial service for Ponder on the university campus in Boulder.
He asked a big question: Why did this have to happen?
"When we're successful and we're excelling and we're overcoming adversity, we never ask God why then," Sanders said. "But only in our demise and the sadness of life, we challenge and ask God why. I think I got the solution. Because as I look right there and look at a young man that was so full of life, full of respect, hustle and hard work and integrity… God, for real? And He whispered, `Dom was chosen.' Dom was chosen to unite y'all. Dom was chosen to bring you together. Dom was chosen to override all ethnicities, social climates, background and ideologies and thought process. Dom was chosen."
'I'm struggling with this,' Pat Shurmur says at memorial
Ponders' death stunned his teama day before the Buffaloes began spring practice March 2. After playing high school football in Florida, Ponder redshirted at Bethune-Cookman in 2023 before arriving atColoradoas a non-scholarship quarterback in 2024. He only appeared in two games in 2025 as the team's fourth-string quarterback.
But his big smile and personality touched the lives of many, including former Colorado offensive coordinatorPat Shurmur, who was asked to return to campus to speak about Ponder on Saturday after his contract expired in January.
"I'm struggling with this," Shurmur said at the memorial, which was also livestreamed online.
Ponder's father notes the significance of No. 7
Shurmur said Ponder inspired him and recalled Ponder's "bright smile." He said he said he could talk about him "for days" and noted he graded players in different categories on a scale of zero to five.
"He's all fives," Shurmur said of Ponder.
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He also was No. 7, as his father Wendell told the congregants. He previously wore jersey No. 22 at Colorado but hadearned the right to wear No. 7 for the first timewhen spring practice started March 2, the day after he died.
"Seven serves as a stamp of God," Wendell Ponder said. "The seven is mentioned in the Bible — the number seven — over 700 times. Seven represents perfection, completion and fulfillment. It signifies God's complete work, something finished, the way God intended. Now you were all number seven. Dom was with all of you. Forever. Amen."
'This should have never happened,' Ponder's sister says
AGoFundMe pagehas been created to help Ponder's family with funeral expenses and had raised more than $14,000 by Saturday afternoon. His mother Catrina also spoke at the memorial and read a written tribute from his younger sister, Monroe, who stood on stage as she read it.
"My brother was one of the funniest, most outgoing people you could ever meet," Monroe said through her mother. "He laughed at everything. He made jokes about everything. And if he was comfortable with you, you definitely saw his weird side. He would say the most random, corny things and somehow make them hilarious."
She said she talked to him every day and wanted to be like him.
"You were an amazing big brother, and I honestly don't know what I'm gonna do without you," she said. "This should have never happened, but I know you're OK. I know you're up there smiling, probably already telling jokes, probably fighting for that starting position in heaven. And I feel so honored that I got to be your little sister. I love you."
Sanders appeared to get emotional at one point during his final tribute when he spoke again about how parents send their children to college to grow into adults,not to never come back.
"Your parents sent you here and you chose to come here to evolve into a man, not to not make it back home," Sanders said. "But Dom… was chosen. God bless you."
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer@Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Deion Sanders delivers eulogy for Colorado QB Dominiq Ponder who died
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