Colorado coach Deion Sanders is making sure quarterback Dominiq Ponder’s memory lives on this season.
Ponder died at the age of 23 in a single-car crash Saturday night, the Colorado State Patrol confirmed. He lost control on a curve and hit a guardrail, and he was pronounced dead at the scene in Boulder County. Police said a preliminary investigation revealed that “speed is suspected as a factor.” Ponder was in his second year with the Buffaloes after transferring from Bethune-Cookman; he played in two games for Colorado last season.
In the wake of the tragedy, Deion Sanders announced on his social media the Buffaloes’ plans to honor Ponder: the players will wear a special tribute patch dedicated to the late QB during the 2026-27 season. In the video, Sanders was seen asking the team what patch they preferred to stick onto their jerseys. The options included “DOM,” “DP 7,” “Dom,” and “DP 22,” and the players appeared to collectively pick “DP 22.”
“The team gets to choose how we honor Dom,” Sanders wrote.
poured out heartfelt tributes but kept Ponder in their thoughts on and off the field
Day One. For Dom. 🖤 pic.twitter.com/38ysM1AH3P
— Colorado Buffaloes Football (@CUBuffsFootball) March 3, 2026
“Everything that we're going to do moving forward is for him,” Colorado defensive back Ben Finneseth said. “It was tough, meeting together [Sunday], everybody, and knowing what happened. Coach Prime asked us if we wanted to work [Monday].
“We decided, as a team, Dom wouldn't miss the day. He wouldn't miss the day of workouts. That's what he would've wanted for us. He would have said, ‘Life's got to move on. We've got championships to win and we still have goals, and the clocks are still rolling.’”
A video of former Colorado star Shedeur Sanders’s sweet moment with Ponder has also resurfaced on social media. Shedeur, who spent one season with Ponder in the Buffaloes’ QB room, happened to be Ponder’s Secret Santa last Christmas, and he gifted his late teammate a vacation trip to Bal Harbour, Fla.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Colorado to Honor Late QB Dominiq Ponder With Special Jersey Tribute.
