- • Tied Vikings record with 10 starts as a rookie QB in 2011.
- • Father, David, was a DT at FSU from 1980-83 who went on to play for the Dallas Cowboys and in the Canadian Football League.
OFF THE FIELD Earned bachelor’s degree in finance in only 2 1/2 years at FSU and went on to earn his MBA, playing his final season of football for the Seminoles with both degrees in hand, earning the bachelor’s in May 2008 and MBA in May 2010...Earned National Football Foundation/College Football Hall of Fame Scholar-Athlete Award...Father, David Ponder, was a DT for FSU from 1980-83 who played for Dallas in 1985.
PRO Became the 3rd QB drafted in the 1st round by the Vikings, joining Tommy Kramer (#27, 1977) and Daunte Culpepper (#11, 1999)...Last QB from FSU drafted by the Vikings was Brad Johnson (9th round, 1992)...Was the 4th QB selected in the 2011 Draft following Cam Newton, Jake Locker and Blaine Gabbert.
- • Tied Vikings record with 10 starts as a rookie QB in 2011.
- • Father, David, was a DT at FSU from 1980-83 who went on to play for the Dallas Cowboys and in the Canadian Football League.
OFF THE FIELD Earned bachelor’s degree in finance in only 2 1/2 years at FSU and went on to earn his MBA, playing his final season of football for the Seminoles with both degrees in hand, earning the bachelor’s in May 2008 and MBA in May 2010...Earned National Football Foundation/College Football Hall of Fame Scholar-Athlete Award...Father, David Ponder, was a DT for FSU from 1980-83 who played for Dallas in 1985.
PRO Became the 3rd QB drafted in the 1st round by the Vikings, joining Tommy Kramer (#27, 1977) and Daunte Culpepper (#11, 1999)...Last QB from FSU drafted by the Vikings was Brad Johnson (9th round, 1992)...Was the 4th QB selected in the 2011 Draft following Cam Newton, Jake Locker and Blaine Gabbert.
2011 Started final 10 games of season, matching Fran Tarkenton for team record for starts by a rookie QB and tied Tarkenton’s team record with 2 wins as a rookie...Set Vikings record for passing yards in a game with 381 vs. Denver (12/4), breaking Tarkenton’s 51-year-old record by over 100 yards...Had a pair of games with a 100+ passer rating...Set team records for attempts, completions and completion % by a rookie QB for a season and single-game rookie records passing attempts, completions and longest pass play...Ranks 2nd among Vikings rookie QBs for passing TDs in a season and passing yards in a season...Started 1st career game vs. Green Bay (10/23) and set Vikings record on 1st play from scrimmage with a 72-yard pass to Michael Jenkins, the longest pass play by a Vikings rookie QB...Saw 1st game action of career at Chicago (10/16) on Sunday Night Football...Earned 1st career win at Carolina (10/30) in 2nd career start, taking team on a 7-minute drive in the 4th quarter for a game-winning FG in the 24-21 win...Started win at Washington (12/24) but left in 3rd quarter with concussion, relieved by backup Joe Webb.
COLLEGE Ended Seminoles career ranked 3rd in school history with 22 career wins...Started 12 games as a senior, 9 as a junior and 13 as a sophomore...Named FSU offensive MVP as a sophomore in 2008...As a senior, became the 1st FSU QB to lead team to wins over Miami and Florida in the same season since Chris Weinke in 1999...As a senior, was a finalist for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award...Was finalist for Wuerffel Trophy, Maxwell Award and Manning Award as a junior...Threw a TD pass in 25 of his final 34 games...Threw a TD in 10 of 12 games as a senior, only shut out in loss at Oklahoma and in Chick-Fil-A Bowl vs. South Carolina when he attempted only 5 passes before leaving game with concussion...Left FSU ranked among the all-time school leaders in career completion percentage (2nd, 61.8%), career total offense (3rd, 7,705 yds), career completions (3rd, 596), career passing yards (4th, 6,872) and career passing TDs (5th, 49)...Threw for career-high 20 TDs as a senior and started 12 games...Ran for 423 yards as a sophomore, the 1st FSU QB to run for 400+ yards since Charlie Ward...Ran for 144 yards in win at Miami as a sophomore, the 2nd-best by an FSU QB in school history and the best mark in 60 years, 2 yards shy of Ken MacLean’s mark of 146 against Cumberland in 1948...As a junior, tied FSU and ACC record with a 98-yard TD pass to Rod Owens at North Carolina as part of a 2nd-half comeback rally to win...Threw for career-best 395 yards at North Carolina as a junior with career-best 33 completions...Tossed career-high 42 attempts as a junior vs. Boston College...Had career-best 5 TD passes against Georgia Tech as a junior...As a senior, threw for a TD in 10 of 12 games, including multi-TD games in 6 games, highlighted by 4-TD day vs. Samford and 3-TD games against North Carolina and Florida...During an injury-shortened junior season, posted impressive numbers and led the ACC with 321.8 yards per game of total offense and was the only ACC passer to average 300+ yards passing per game (301.9 ypg)...Earned All-ACC Honorable Mention as a junior...Helped FSU snap BYU’s 18-game home winning streak as a junior in a 52-48 win at the #7 Cougars when he rushed for season-high 77 yards.
PREP Earned All-District V and All-Region I Class 5A as a senior at Heritage High in Colleyville, TX...Threw for 20 TDs as a senior and rushed for 12 more as a senior...Threw for 318 yards and 3 TDs against eventual state champion and perennial power Southlake Carroll as a senior.
