Colorado Buffaloes Reveal Their Reactions to Dominiq Ponder's Death

Less than 24 hours after news broke of quarterback Dominiq Ponder's death in a car accident, the Colorado Buffaloes began spring practices on Monday. They also addressed the media.

Emotions were raw, shock was on full display, but the team remains together. Offensive coordinator Brennan Marion gave Ponder a resounding tribute before safety Ben Finneseth, cornerback RJ Johnson, offensive lineman Yahya Attia and running back DeKalon Taylor shared stories and emotions to remember their teammate and his life.

Colorado Players Speak On Death Of Dominiq Ponder

A loss would hurt, and Utah/BYU is essentially guaranteed at least one win with Houston in their pocket of the conference bra — Oct 19, 2024; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Colorado Buffalos safety Ben Finneseth (28) against the Arizona Wildcats at Arizona Stadium. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Finneseth, entering his sixth year with the Buffaloes, spoke about the leadership he's taken on both before and after the tragedy. He mentioned that he spent a week during last year's spring break with Ponder's family.

"You lose a brother, and to some of us like myself, it's more than a brother," Finneseth said. "The biggest thing that I wanted us to [take] away from this is it can either mold us, or it can tear us apart. And it ain't gonna tear us apart because of the team we are, and the culture that we're building.

"Yesterday, you know you're gonna go to sleep and wake up, and Dom's not gonna be there. But football is gonna be there, so our mentality was [that] we gotta get back to work, and we gotta honor Dom in the way that we work, and we're gonna do it for him."

Following the news, coach Deion Sanders called an emergency team meeting to decide whether or not to start spring practice on Monday. The players were overwhelmingly in support, according to Finneseth, seeing it as an opportunity to carry out Ponder's values.

"Dom wouldn't have missed a day," Finneseth said. "Obviously, there were a lot of emotions yesterday, and a lot of guys breaking down and tearing up, but we gotta keep working ... We still got a goal, still got a mission, and this is just another why, for some of the guys that maybe think their why isn't significant, that's your why now."

Oct 19, 2024; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Colorado Buffalos safety RJ Johnson (5) against the Arizona Wildcats at Arizona Stadium. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Johnson, entering his third season at Colorado, found practice as a home, something greater than an escape to collectively grow through unimaginable pain.

"We kinda needed that," he said. "Getting our feet on the grass, and everybody being together. Everybody's going through the same thing, and some people grieve harder than others, so it's just a good way to get everybody together and get our minds off of things."

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Attia talked about how, through grief, he's found motivation. The rising sophomore started four games for Colorado last season.

"For the O-line, especially, we know it's the quarterback, so it's kind of sad not being able to protect him off the field," he said. "It's going to make me do everything to protect my quarterbacks I have left on the field ... I still don't really realize it, like I don't want to believe it yet."

Oct 19, 2024; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Colorado Buffalos guard Yahya Attia (59) against the Arizona Wildcats at Arizona Stadium. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Attia remembered Ponder as a friendly, fun-loving teammate in the locker room. He also shed light on how "Coach Prime" comforted the program in the aftermath.

"It's not that we didn't know, but he just made sure that we know he loves every single one of us," Attia said. "We're making sure that we're not losing anybody else ... Take care of each other, come closer together, that's what we're here for. We're a team, so we've got to play like a team and act like a team."

Aug 29, 2025; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Colorado Buffaloes running back Dekalon Taylor (20) celebrates his touchdown reception in the first quarter against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Folsom Field. | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Taylor, a second-year running back, mentioned a chant Marion started at Monday's practice to honor Ponder. It lit a fuse in the squad to compete and train for something greater.

"It was a little heavy at first," Taylor said of the practice. "Coach Marion got the guys going, and we all bought in. We had no other choice but to go hard for him ... We broke it out on Dom, and it set the tone for the rest of practice."