If there is one thing that Pittsburg State sophomore linebacker/safety Joe Windscheffel learned this summer, it is that zebras are animals that are not to be taken lightly.
The Smith Center native was working on a farm near Lawrence for the summer when he became entangled with one of the four-legged animals on the farm.
That incident has led to Windscheffel, a 6-foot-2, 225-pounder, being out of the 2009 season for the Gorillas.
“You only see zebras on television getting eaten by lions, but they are stronger than they look,” Windscheffel said. “It was just a freak deal.”
He said he was working on the farm painting wooden fencing along the pasture line and had to move three female zebras and a male.
Not a big deal for Windscheffel, who grew up around farms all of his life in northwestern Kansas.
“They had told us that they can be aggressive, but I wasn’t too worried about it because I have been around cattle all my life,” Windscheffel said.
Just as he was maneuvering to paint some of the fence, the male charged at Windscheffel.
After fighting him off, the male came back and bit him in the forearm and would not let go.
“I started to try to get him off and a buddy of mine started to, too,” Windscheffel said. “That is when the zebra threw me to the ground and tried to stomp on me.”
Just when the initial struggle seemed over, the zebra took off running with Windscheffel’s arm still in his mouth.
“I was worried for my life at that point because I wasn’t sure what he was going to do,” Windscheffel said.
It finally took two of Windscheffel’s fellow farm hands to dislodge his arm from the zebra’s mouth and take him to the hospital.
There, he learned he had a compound fracture of the forearm that required a plate and six pins to be inserted. It just mounted to his previous Achilles tear he suffered during spring ball last season.
That leaves Windscheffel unable to play for the Gorillas this season.
“I will be back for spring ball,” Windscheffel said. “I just didn’t think I could be mentally and physically ready for this season.”
Pitt State Defensive Coordinator Dave Wiemers said that it is a strange situation for Windscheffel.
“You feel bad for the kid because he comes out as a freshman, practices three minutes and pops his Achilles,” Wiemers said. “He redshirts and just gets cleared to play and we are starting to factor him in and he gets drug around by a zebra.”
Windscheffel said the attack was completely unprovoked.
“There was talk that one of the females was pregnant, and maybe he was protecting her,” Windscheffel said. “To me, it was for no reason.”
Now, he is left trying to tell the story of his accident to concerned family and friends.
“I laugh about it,” Windscheffel said. “People get worried that I am going to be bothered because they are laughing, but it really doesn’t bother me, and I laugh about it now.”
That does not mean that he does not even try to get creative when telling people about his incident.
“I usually just tell people that it was a football injury,” Windscheffel said. “Most people know, but if it’s someone I don’t know, I don’t have to spend 30 minutes explaining it and another 30 minutes convincing them that it was true.”
Matthew Clark can be reached at matthew.clark@morningsun.net or at 620-231-2600, Ext. 140. Follow Morning Sun sports at twitter.com/mssports
PITTSBURG —
