Christian Andrew Ponder is a former American football quarterback. He was born on February 25, 1988 He played for the Minnesota Vikings, Denver Broncos and San Francisco 49ers. He played college football at Florida State and was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings with the 12th overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft.
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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 favour of rookie Teddy Bridgewater in 2014; he totalled 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.
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Ponder married ESPN reporter Samantha Steele on December 17, 2012. The couple first started seeing each other after Ponder messaged her on Twitter. After two months, the couple decided to get married, driving to a Hudson, Wisconsin courthouse before having their wedding meal at Arby’s. The two held a formal ceremony the following April.
Their first child, a daughter named Bowden Saint-Claire Ponder was born in 2014. Bowden Ponder was named after Christian’s college football coach at Florida State, Bobby Bowden and also goes by the name “Scout” derived from Samantha’s favourite novel “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
In 2017, Samantha revealed on Twitter that the couple’s first son was born. They named him Robinson True, and said that “he was named after Jackie and David (Robinson)… two men of courage who weren’t/aren’t afraid to hold to their convictions and take the road less travelled.” Ponder and his wife live in Arizona and New York City
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