BRUISING BROTHERS when it comes to toughness

By Jeff Kolpack The Forum

Fargo

It doesn’t take a master’s degree in psychology to figure out what position Mason Hofstedt plays at North Dakota State. The hair sticking out of the back of the helmet is a first clue.

Biceps that look like they’re part of the shoulder pads is another. Fast? That helps, too.

“He’s got the long hair, the thick chest, he looks like a linebacker and plays like one,” said Logan Hofstedt, his younger brother and Bison fullback. Ding, ding. Correct answer. Linebacker. The NDSU assistant coach in charge of linebackers, Grant Olson, would know.

“He has a little bit of that tough guy look to him,” Olson said. “He could fit in at a rock concert pretty well.”

As tough as Mason has played on the field this year, it was a year away from it that probably defines his toughness even more. He suffered an avulsion of the hamstring, or a complete tear from the bone, in the second game of the 2019 season.

Hofstedt was on the kickoff coverage team against the University of North Dakota when another player landed on top of him. The collision ripped his hamstring from the pelvic bone. If it sounds painful, it was.

It’s an uncommon injury, so rare that Mason said the only other athletes he heard that it happened to were a couple of European soccer players.

“I’m sure there’s more that I don’t know of, but that’s just what I was told,” he said.

Rehabilitation was not for the impatient or meek. It took a year of doing the same exercises over and over with progress not coming real fast. The timeline was 12 months, although total 100% health took longer.

“Hard and slow,” Mason said. “I had to be diligent with it, make sure I was getting at it every day, but I wouldn’t have made it back if I wasn’t on top of it.”

He didn’t make it back without the help of others, specifically his brother. They lived together at the time of the injury and it was Logan who drove him to and from workouts and rehab appointments. There were times Mason had to ask his brother for help to put his socks on.

“I could tell it hurt him,” Logan said, “because of who he is and because he’s such a go-getter. He’s a competitor and loves to do everything on his own. It was tough for him.”

It was probably a blessing in that sense that the Bison played only one game in the fall of 2020 because of the pandemic. Mason said he didn’t think he would have been full go that fall.

He returned when the Missouri Valley Football Conference moved the season to last spring and had a few tackles in a backup role. Gradually this season, his role has increased. For one, the Bison have been without outside linebacker James Kaczor for most of this season.

For two, he’s produced when he’s played. Mason is mostly used when other teams are in run situations.

It’s when a team wants a tough-looking and tough-playing linebacker in the game.

“He flies around with his hair on fire,” said Olson, who was immediately reminded of

Hofstedt’s hair. “Literally with his long hair on fire, absolutely. … He’s a guy who plays a much higher weight and strength than maybe 225 pounds would suggest. You’ll see him bull 250- pounders over.”

Trace that style back to growing up in Cannon Falls, Minn., a town of about 4,000 people southeast of the Twin Cities. NDSU’s roster is dotted with small-town players and the Hofstedts are another two in the line.

They first began to pay attention to the Bison when Nate Safe was a standout offensive lineman from 2003-07. The Hofstedt and Safe families are close friends in Cannon Falls. Once Mason came to NDSU, there wasn’t much doubt two years later that Logan wanted to be part of the team.

NDSU has for a long time been a landing spot for small-school players with a tough edge to them.

“I would like to think so, tough kids and smalltown kids that are going to take any chance we can get and make the most out of it,” Logan said. “I like to think we have a lot of pride where we come from and a lot of people have pride in this program. I graduated with 83 kids, we’re going to take any opportunity that is handed to us. It pays off here.”

Two brothers. One a fullback. One a linebacker. There is finesse to those two positions, certainly, but there is also a lot of physical play.

It’s just the way the Hofstedts like it.

“It’s really cool to say you played with your brother in high school and then again to play college football together is pretty unique, whatever level it is,” Mason said. “It’s cool for us and our family.”

Starters