Wonder Monds

College career After graduating from Central High, Monds enrolled at Iowa State University to play college football for the Iowa State Cyclones. Monds grew his trademark afro while at Nebraska in order to stand out. In 1975, he recorded 17 solo tackles, 17 assisted tackles, two pass breakups, one fumble recovery, and one blocked kick. He had wanted to major in art at Nebraska but his counselor advised that would take a lot of classwork and might interfere with football.

Professional career Monds was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the fourth round, with the 112th overall pick, of the 1976 NFL draft. However, in late April 1976, Monds instead signed a three-year contract with the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL) because they offered him more money.

Monds was then signed by the CFL's Ottawa Rough Riders in August 1976 after cornerback Merl Code suffered an injury. He also missed some time due to injury as the Rough Riders finished the year with a 9–6–1 record. He did not re-sign with the Rough Riders due to a contract dispute. He played in all 16 games (no starts) for the 49ers during the 1978 season as a backup safety and cornerback. Monds was released on July 12, 1979. Monds dressed in six games for Ottawa that year and intercepted one pass. At the age of 30, he fulfilled a childhood dream of his by buying his parents a house in Fort Pierce. Mario Monds (born 1976) who played in the NFL, and a second son named Wonderful Terrific Monds II (born 1992) who played college football at Buffalo and FIU. His grandson, Wonderful Monds IV, is a high school football quarterback in the class of 2028.

Name According to family lore, Monds's grandfather, who had fathered 11 daughters, had stated "Wonderful! Terrific!" after seeing his first son (Wonderful Monds Sr.). He was later told that a midwife who had helped his grandmother achieve a home birth said "This is wonderful." In 2004, Monds said he never found out where his middle name of "Terrific" came from but suspected that his mother came up with it.

Growing up, Monds said he was teased, and punched, by other boys for his name. He also had his shoes stolen. He said it took him a while to "get used to" his name but that he later "learned to love it", stating "It made me stronger because I've had to defend myself and my name at times." Monds also said "I used to walk down the street and somebody would say, 'I wonder if it's going to rain' and I'd look up, thinking somebody was talking to me. Anytime somebody said wonder in a sentence, I'd look around."