Christian Ponder
 Ponder with the Minnesota Vikings in 2012 | |||||||||||||||
| No. 7, 2, 5 | |||||||||||||||
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| Position | Quarterback | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born | February 25, 1988 Dallas, Texas, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 230 lb (104 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school | Colleyville Heritage (Colleyville, Texas) | ||||||||||||||
| College | Florida State (2006–2010) | ||||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 2011: 1st round, 12th overall pick | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
* Offseason or practice squad member only | |||||||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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Christian Andrew Ponder (born February 25, 1988) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Florida State Seminoles, and was selected by the Minnesota Vikings with the 12th overall pick in the 2011 NFL draft. He played for the Vikings, Denver Broncos and San Francisco 49ers.
Ponder had an up-and-down career with the Vikings. He started all 16 games and helped lead the team to a playoff berth in 2012, but also suffered several injuries and inconsistent play, eventually being benched in favor of rookie Teddy Bridgewater in 2014; he totaled a 14–21–1 record in his four seasons with the Vikings. He then spent time in a backup role for the Oakland Raiders, Denver Broncos and San Francisco 49ers, but never took another NFL snap before retiring in 2016.
Since December 2012, Ponder has been married to former ESPN personality Samantha Ponder.
Early life
[edit]Ponder was born in Dallas, Texas, and grew up in Grapevine, Texas. His father, David Ponder, played college football at Florida State University as a defensive lineman from 1980 to 1983, and thus Christian Ponder is one of several father-son duos who played for Bobby Bowden, the Florida State Seminoles' head coach from 1976 through 2009. Christian Ponder attended Colleyville Heritage High School, where he played football. In 2004, he was the starting quarterback and threw for 1,500 yards and seven touchdowns. As a senior, he passed for 1,214 yards and 20 touchdowns and rushed for 911 yards and 12 touchdowns.[1]
The Dallas Morning News named him to their all-district first team.[1] Scout.com named him the 20th-ranked quarterback prospect,[2] while Rivals.com rated him the 14th-ranked pro-style quarterback and the 50th-ranked college prospect from Texas.[3] He received scholarship offers from Baylor, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Iowa State, North Carolina, and Texas Christian.[2]
College career
[edit]In 2006, Ponder sat out his true freshman season at Florida State on redshirt status. In 2007, he served as the back-up behind starting quarterback Drew Weatherford. Ponder saw action against Virginia Tech when Weatherford was taken out of the game due to an injury in the second quarter. Although Florida State lost, 40–21, Ponder completed eight out of 18 passing attempts for 105 yards and one touchdown.[1]
Before the 2008 season, Ponder was named the starting quarterback ahead of senior Weatherford. The Miami Herald said that the decision showed the coaching staff put "a premium on mobility over maturity."[4] Ponder started in all 13 games,[1] and completed 177 passes on 318 attempts for 2,006 yards, 14 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions. He also made 119 rushing attempts for 423 yards and four touchdowns.[5] The Seminoles finished the season with a 9–4 record, including a victory over Wisconsin in the Champs Sports Bowl. At season's end, Ponder was named the team's most valuable offensive player.[1]
In 2009, Ponder was well on his way to a career season when he suffered a season ending shoulder injury at Clemson. Through the first eight games of the season, he led the ACC in passing average per game and was one of the national leaders in yards.[6] He threw for over 2,700 yards and 14 touchdowns and considered jumping to the NFL a year early. However, after hitting Clemson safety DeAndre McDaniel on an interception return, Ponder separated his shoulder and missed the rest of the season.[7] This ended his professional hopes, at least for one year. He resumed his role as the starting quarterback in 2010.
Before the 2010 season, Ponder was named to the Maxwell Award watch list.[8] Florida State launched a campaign promoting Ponder as a Heisman Trophy candidate in July 2010.[9] During the 2010 season, Ponder battled numerous setbacks to his health, including a swollen bursa sac in his throwing elbow. He re-injured the elbow numerous times during the season, and had to have it drained three times.
Ponder's 2010 season, his senior year and the only one he had under coach Jimbo Fisher, was his most successful. Ponder was the first Seminole quarterback since Chris Weinke in 1999 to lead his team to victories over both its in-state rivals, Miami and Florida. He also won the 2010 James Tatum award, given to the nation's top student-athlete,[10] and a National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete Award, as well as the Bobby Bowden Award, presented to the top student athlete among FBS schools. Ponder graduated from Florida State in two and a half years, with a degree in finance and a 3.73 GPA, then an MBA, and is studying for his second graduate degree, in sports management.[11] At the 2011 Under Armour Senior Bowl, Ponder won MVP honors after throwing for 2 touchdowns and leading the South to a win over the heavily favored North.
Professional career
[edit]| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | Wingspan | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Wonderlic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 229 lb (104 kg) | 32+1⁄8 in (0.82 m) | 10+1⁄4 in (0.26 m) | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 4.72 s | 1.64 s | 2.76 s | 4.09 s | 6.85 s | 34.0 in (0.86 m) | 9 ft 8 in (2.95 m) | 35[12] |
| All values from 2011 NFL Scouting Combine[13][14][15] | ||||||||||||
Minnesota Vikings
[edit]2011 season
[edit]
Ponder was selected 12th overall by the Minnesota Vikings in the first round of the 2011 NFL draft.[16][17] He was the fourth quarterback selected in the draft, behind Cam Newton, Jake Locker, and Blaine Gabbert. Ponder did not have a typical rookie offseason following the draft due to the 2011 NFL lockout. Late in July, the Vikings traded for veteran quarterback Donovan McNabb to start and mentor Ponder.[18] Three days after the McNabb trade, Ponder agreed to terms with the Vikings on a rookie contract that included $10 million guaranteed. Ponder embraced the competition from McNabb. "The guy deserves a starting job. He's been in the league for a while," Ponder said of McNabb. "My mentality is to be able to go in and compete and try to get that job from him. He deserves to be the starting quarterback. Somewhere down the road I'm going to push to take that over and we'll see."[19] Ponder announced at his introduction press conference that he intended to wear jersey number 7 in the NFL.[20]
Following a disastrous start to the season for the Vikings under McNabb, Ponder made his NFL debut against the Chicago Bears in the fourth quarter on October 16, 2011. In a game where the Vikings were blown out 39–10, Ponder completed 9-of-17 passes for 99 yards in his first real action.[21] It was announced on Tuesday, October 18, that he would make his first start the following Sunday against the Green Bay Packers, replacing McNabb as the starter.[22] On Ponder's first career pass attempt as a starter he hit Michael Jenkins on a 72-yard play-action pass. Two plays later, he threw his first career touchdown, completing a short pass to Visanthe Shiancoe. Ponder helped the 1–5 Vikings give the undefeated Packers a close game and finished 13-of-32 for 219 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions in the 27–33 loss.[23]
Ponder was able to get his first win as an NFL starting quarterback the following week against his fellow 2011 draft mate Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers on October 30, 2011. He threw for 236 yards and a touchdown, and had a passer rating of 102.7 in the close 24–21 game. After a bye week, the Vikings faced off against the Packers again, this time on Monday Night Football at