The Colorado Buffaloes are mourning the death of their quarterback Dominiq Ponder at the age of 23.
Ponder, a third-year sophomore from Opa Locka, Florida, died in a single car accident in the early hours of Sunday morning in Boulder after losing control of his Tesla Model 3.
Denver news station KDVR says authorities believe Ponder might have been speeding at a right hand curve before crashing through a guardrail and into an electrical line, before rolling down an embankment and catching fire.
He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The head coach of the Buffaloes, the legendary NFL great Deion Sanders, led the tributes to Ponder with an emotional statement posted on Sunday evening.
‘God please comfort the Ponder family, friends & Loved ones,’ Sanders wrote. ‘Dom was one of my favorites! He was Loved, Respected & a Born Leader.
Colorado Buffaloes are mourning the death of their quarterback Dominiq Ponder
Ponder, 23, was a backup quarterback at Colorado who played twice for the team in 2025
‘Let’s pray for all that knew him & had the opportunity to be in his presence. Lord you’re receiving a good 1. Comfort us Lord Comfort us.’
Ponder was a backup quarterback at the school who made two brief appearances for the team in the 2025 season. He transferred from Bethune-Cookman in 2024.
His fellow signal caller Colton Allen also shared an tribute to his teammate on Instagram on Sunday.
‘I don’t even know how to put this into words,’ Allen wrote. ‘We spend so much time stressing about stuff that feels huge in the moment but honestly doesn’t matter. Life. Money. Opinions.
‘None of that feels important right now. Life is such a blessing from God, but it’s also so short and fragile. You don’t really understand that until something like this happens.
‘Dom, you were a blessing to so many people. You had a presence about you that just made everything better.
‘You brought so much joy to me and everyone around you. I’m grateful for every lift, every practice, every rep, every conversation we got to share. I’ll carry those with me for the rest of my life.’
The Buffaloes offensive coordinater, Brennan Marion, added: ‘A joy to be around & coach! gonna be tough but man this one hurts Lord, getting that call from his dad today didn’t feel real.
Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders led the tributes to Ponder on Sunday night
Ponder’s teammates and coaches also paid tribute to him after the news emerged of his death
‘Love you Dom! God cover his family & our team, especially our qb room!’
Colorado had been scheduled to begin spring practice on Monday in Boulder. It is unclear, as of early Sunday night, if that is still going ahead.
Ponder had played high school football at Carol City and Naples in Florida. He went to Bethune-Cookman from Myrtle Beach Collegiate Academy in South Carolina.
Ponder appeared to deeply admire his head coach Sanders. His last post on X was a retweet of a message Sanders posted in October about having trust in God and he would often re-post messages from Sanders.
The Buffaloes said they are making counseling available for Ponder’s teammates.