Dragons' Josephsen in control once again
"That was the first thing that entered my mind," Josephsen said, referring to his snowmobile accident last January. "I didn’t know the severity of the injury but I knew I was hurt pretty bad."
Bad enough that he couldn’t walk for two weeks. Bad enough that he couldn’t start running until late March – about the time he and his Moorhead State teammates started spring practice.
"I was very fortunate to get out of that," said Josephsen, a West Fargo product who will starting at linebacker in Saturday’s season-opening Crystal Bowl at Concordia.
Josephsen was snowmobiling at night with a large group of friends near Mahnomen, Minn. His Polaris snowmobile hit something hard buried in the snow. The impact sent Josephsen flying.
The trailing driver couldn’t avoid Josephsen. The ski of his snowmobile hit Josephsen’s hip and went over his back and shoulder. The wait for the ambulance, which took 45 minutes, seemed like hours for Josephsen.
"Everything was going good before that ... it was going to be my senior year, I was a captain," Josephsen said. "Actually, it’s amazing how it has come around. My hip is still sore when I push it ... like a hip pointer. But it doesn’t limit me on the field."
When Moorhead State defensive coordinator Dan Lind heard about the accident, all he could think was, "That’s all we need."
Lind had reason to be concerned. He has only two defensive starters returning from last year’s team. Josephsen, a 6-foot, 218-pounder, and free safety Jayme Sussner are the two starters.
According to head coach Ralph Micheli: "Those two will have to be the heart and soul of our defense until the others get squared away."
Last year, when Josephsen was a regular backup, the defense limited Concordia to two touchdowns in the Dragons’ 31-14 victory. Josephsen ended the 1996 season with 16 tackles, including 11 unassisted tackles.
Now, he’s a captain of a young defense that will face a veteran Concordia offense. Josephsen easily remembers when he was an inexperienced sophomore, inserted into a game at Minnesota-Duluth.
"I was so excited, I could hardly call the play that the coaches sent with me," Josephsen said. "I know the nerves will be running high Saturday with these young guys. I’ll just try to calm them down, tell them to keep focused and have some fun."
For the most part, Josephsen has had fun either watching or playing against rival Concordia. When he was a freshman, the Dragons won 21-0. As a redshirt the next year, the Dragons won 41-21. The following year was the only time Josephsen experienced a loss to the Cobbers, 10-7.
Josephsen knows what the televised rivalry is all about. He watched the game while he was growing up near West Fargo. Now he will be in the spotlight in Saturday’s telecast.
"It’s going to be a test because we do have some green guys," Josephsen said. "But I’m confident in our guys. They are fast enough, strong enough and talented enough. It’s the mental mistakes that will make the difference."
And you can be sure Josephsen will be reminding his young teammates of that.
"He’s in command and the guys listen to him," Lind said. "He doesn’t get rattled and he doesn’t like it when other people do. You can tell a difference when he’s not out there."
Which nearly happened thanks to the snowmobile accident. Will Josephsen hop on his Polaris again?
"I don’t think you can keep me away from snowmobiling. It’s too much fun," he said. "But that night riding ... I don’t think I’ll ever do that again."