- Christian Ponder
-
Christian Ponder No. 7 Minnesota Vikings Quarterback Personal information Date of birth: February 25, 1988 Place of birth: Dallas, Texas Height: 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Weight: 229 lb (104 kg) Career information College: Florida State NFL Draft: 2011 / Round: 1 / Pick: 12 Debuted in 2011 for the Minnesota Vikings Career history - Minnesota Vikings (2011–present)
Roster status: Active Career highlights and awards - 2011 Senior Bowl MVP
- 2010 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Finalist
- 2010 James Tatum Award Winner
Career NFL statistics as of Week 8, 2011 TD–INT 3-2 Passing yards 554 Passer rating 77.5 Rushing attempts 9 Rushing yards 43 Rushing touchdowns 0 Stats at NFL.com Stats at pro-football-reference.com Christian Ponder (born February 25, 1988) is an American football quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Vikings with the twelfth overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, and signed with them on July 31, 2011, shortly after the 2011 NFL lockout ended.[1] He played college football as the starting quarterback for the Florida State Seminoles at Florida State University. He won the starting job from Drew Weatherford prior to the 2008 season.
Contents
Early years
Ponder was born in Dallas, Texas and grew up in Grapevine, Texas. His father, David Ponder, played college football for Florida State as a defensive lineman from 1980 to 1983, and thus Christian Ponder is one of several father-son duos who have both played for Bobby Bowden, who coached the Seminoles until the end of the 2009 season. 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 recorded 2,214 passing yards and 20 touchdowns and 911 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns.[2]
The Dallas Morning News named him to their all-district first team.[2] Scout.com named him the 20th-ranked quarterback prospect,[3] while Rivals.com rated him the 14th-ranked pro-style quarterback and the 50th-ranked college prospect from Texas.[4] He received scholarship offers from Baylor, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Iowa State, North Carolina, and Texas Christian.[3]
College career
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.[2]
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."[5] Ponder started in all 13 games,[2] 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.[6] 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.[2]
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 and passing efficiency[citation needed]. 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.
The 2010 season, Ponder's senior year and only year under coach Jimbo Fisher, had seen the greatest amount of success for the quarterback. 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. 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 TD's and leading the South to a win over the heavily favored North.
College stats
Year Team Attempts Completions Completion % Yards TDs INT 2006 Florida State Redshirt 2007 Florida State 18 8 44.4% 105 1 2 2008 Florida State 318 177 55.7% 2,006 14 13 2009 Florida State 330 227 68.8% 2,717 14 7 2010 Florida State 299 184 61.5% 2,044 20 8 College Totals 965 596 61.8% 6,872 49 30 Professional career
Pre-draft measureables Ht Wt Arm length Hand size 40-yd dash 10-yd split 20-yd split 20-ss 3-cone Vert Broad BP Wonderlic 6 ft 2 in 229 lb 32⅛ in 10¼ in 4.63 s 1.57 s 2.62 s 4.09 s 6.85 s 34 in 9 ft 8 in x rep 35 All values from 2011 NFL Scouting Combine. [12] Minnesota Vikings
Ponder was selected 12th overall by the Minnesota Vikings in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft.[13] Ponder announced in his introduction press conference that he intended to wear jersey number 7 in the NFL.[14] He made his NFL debut against the Chicago Bears in the fourth quarter on October 16, 2011. It was announced on Tuesday, October 18, that he would make his first start the following Sunday against the Green Bay Packers.[15] On Ponder's first career pass attempt as a starter he hit Michael Jenkins on a 71 yard pass play off playaction. Two plays later, he hit Visanthe Shiancoe in the end zone on another playaction pass. He finished the game 13 of 32 for 219 yards with 2 TDs and 2 INTs in the 33-27 loss. [16] Ponder was able to get his first win as an NFL starting quarterback with the Minnesota Vikings against Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers on October 30th, 2011. He threw for 236 yards and a touchdown, and had a passer rating of 102.7. He threw three interceptions against the Raiders. [17]
References
- ^ Alcaraz, Gil (2011-07-28). "Vikings Sign First Round Pick Ponder - NFL - Yahoo! Sports". Sports.yahoo.com. http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ycn-8893187. Retrieved 2011-08-01.
- ^ a b c d e Player Bio: Christian Ponder, Florida State University. Retrieved August 4, 2009.
- ^ a b Christian Ponder Profile, Scout.com. Retrieved August 4, 2009.
- ^ Christian Ponder, Rivals.com. Retrieved August 4, 2009.
- ^ Sophomore Christian Ponder named new starting quarterback for Florida State, The Miami Herald, p. D6, September 4, 2008.
- ^ Christian Ponder Stats, ESPN. Retrieved August 4, 2009.
- ^ Brian Landman, Florida State quarterback Christian Ponder out for the year, needs shoulder surgery
- ^ "Ponder selected to 2010 Maxwell Award watch list" Retrieved on 2010-7-11
- ^ Ponder Heisman campaign on the way?, ESPN, July 1, 2010.
- ^ Dinich, Heather. "Ponder wins James Tatum Award – ACC Blog – ESPN". Espn.go.com. http://espn.go.com/blog/acc/post/_/id/19400/ponder-wins-tatum-award. Retrieved 2010-12-02.
- ^ Carter, Andrew (2010-11-03). "Florida State QB Christian Ponder wins $18,000 postgraduate scholarship". Orlando Sentinel. http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/sports_college_fsu/2010/11/florida-state-qb-christian-ponder-wins-18000-postgraduate-scholarship.html. Retrieved 2010-12-27.
- ^ "Christian Ponder". nfldraftscout.com. http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:8COQKDexFJMJ:www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/dsprofile.php%3Fpyid%3D66142%26draftyear%3D2011%26genpos%3DQB+christian+ponder+nfldraftscout&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&source=www.google.com. Retrieved 2011-04-26.
- ^ Farrar, Doug (2011-07-28). "Christian Ponder goes to Minnesota Vikings with 12th pick in NFL Draft - Shutdown Corner - NFL Blog - Yahoo! Sports". Sports.yahoo.com. http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/Christian-Ponder-goes-to-Minnesota-Vikings-with-?urn=nfl-wp1511. Retrieved 2011-08-01.
- ^ "Ponder / Frazier Presser - 4/29". Vikings.com. http://www.vikings.com/media-vault/videos/Ponder--Frazier-Presser---429/1b7592cf-352c-4055-9769-a8ddf6a6cda3. Retrieved 2011-08-01.
- ^ http://www.startribune.com/sports/vikings/blogs/132067103.html
- ^ http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nfl/6433/christian-ponder
- ^ http://www.vikings.com/schedule/game/2011/regular8/
Florida State Seminoles starting quarterbacks Jack McMillan • Lee Corso • Steve Tensi • Kim Hammond • Bill Cappleman • Gary Huff • Danny McManus • Chip Ferguson • Peter Tom Willis • Brad Johnson • Casey Weldon • Charlie Ward • Danny Kanell • Thad Busby • Chris Weinke • Chris Rix • Wyatt Sexton • Drew Weatherford • Xavier Lee • Christian Ponder • E. J. Manuel • Clint Trickett2011 NFL Draft First Round Selections Cam Newton · Von Miller · Marcell Dareus · A. J. Green · Patrick Peterson · Julio Jones · Aldon Smith · Jake Locker · Tyron Smith · Blaine Gabbert · J. J. Watt · Christian Ponder · Nick Fairley · Robert Quinn · Mike Pouncey · Ryan Kerrigan · Nate Solder · Corey Liuget · Prince Amukamara · Adrian Clayborn · Phil Taylor · Anthony Castonzo · Danny Watkins · Cameron Jordan · James Carpenter · Jonathan Baldwin · Jimmy Smith · Mark Ingram · Gabe Carimi · Muhammad Wilkerson · Cameron Heyward · Derek SherrodMinnesota Vikings first-round draft picks Mason • Dunaway • Eller • Snow • Shay • Jones • G. Washington • Page • Yary • Ward • Hayden • Siemon • Foreman • McNeill • Riley • Mullaney • White • Kramer • Holloway • Brown • Martin • Nelson • Browner • Millard • Doleman • Robinson • Dozier • McDaniel • Smith • D. Washington • Steussie • Alexander • Stringer • Clemons • Rudd • Moss • Culpepper • Underwood • Hovan • Bennett • McKinnie • Williams • Udeze • Williamson • James • Greenway • Peterson • Harvin • PonderMinnesota Vikings starting quarterbacks Categories:- 1988 births
- Living people
- People from Dallas, Texas
- People from Tarrant County, Texas
- Players of American football from Texas
- Florida State Seminoles football players
- American football quarterbacks
- Minnesota Vikings players
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
