Colorado quarterback Dominiq Ponder died in a car accident at age 23, one day before he was set to wear his new jersey number.
Coach Deion Sanders revealed Ponder had earned the No. 7 jersey after previously wearing No. 22.
The team plans to honor Ponder with a jersey patch but is deciding whether to use the number 7 or 22.
Colorado football coach Deion Sanders made his first extensive public comments about the recent death of Colorado quarterback Dominiq Ponder, revealing that Ponder had recently earned a new jersey number and was going to wear it for the first time on March 2, one day after he died in a car accident at age 23.
Sanders discussed Ponder’s death on his weekly talk show on Tubi which aired March 5. Ponder was a non-scholarship backup quarterback at Colorado who had spent two seasons in Boulder and had previously worn jersey No. 22, which is unusual for a quarterback.
But Sanders said he encouraged Ponder to fight for the right to wear a more coveted jersey number – No. 7. He was going to wear it when his team started spring practice March 2.
“He worked his butt off, and this season he was gonna wear No. 7,” Sanders said on the show “We Got Time Today.” “But the teammates love him so much. One of the kids came to my office today and said, `Coach, can I wear 22? You know, for my roommate?’ I said, ‘Yeah, but you know, he was getting ready to wear 7.’ Like, the next day, he would have been in 7 for his first time ever.”
Colorado still deciding which number to use on patch
The number change has presented Sanders’ team with a decision to make. The Buffaloes plan to honor Ponder’s memory with a patch on their jerseys, but is still deciding which number to use in it – the one Ponder was known for (22) or the one he worked hard to get (7).
“Everybody knows he’s 22,” Sanders said. “But I know how much 7 meant to him. So we’re going back and forth with that right now.”
What else did Deion Sanders say about Dominiq Ponder?
Sanders said Ponder was “one of my favorites” and a team leader. He also had a nickname for Ponder: “Black Flutie,” referring to white former quarterback Doug Flutie, who wore No. 22 at Boston College before switching to No. 7 in the NFL.
Sanders spoke with Ponders’ parents after his death.
“It was tough, because I’m like, you send a kid to college to become a man and to get education, and to just soar through life.,” Sanders said. “You don’t send a kid to college to lose him. And that’s the toughest thing for me to digest.”
Colorado held an emergency meeting on March 1 after learning of Ponders’ death and elected to start spring practice as scheduled March 2 instead of taking the day off.
“They said, `Dom would have wanted to practice, coach; He wasn’t missing no practice,’” Sanders said. “I said, `Wow.’ So we went out to work.”
Colorado continues spring practice through April 11 and begins the season at Georgia Tech on Sept. 3.
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com