After injury, it would have taken a wrecking ball to remove Gindorff from Bison football

Gindorff shoved him out of the play, but right about then a defensive tackle from the interior fell on the outside of Gindorff’s leg. The leg lost that battle.

Gindorff knew almost instantly it was not good, an injury later diagnosed as a fractured fibula and ligament damage to the ankle. He also knew almost instantly what was in store for his future.

A pro prospect who had plans to train for the NFL after the season, he was forced to take a detour.

“That’s where all my energy was going to be devoted and to have that all taken away from you just as fast was pretty tough,” Gindorff said.

Thanks to the extra year of eligibility because of the COVID-19 pandemic, he knew almost right away that he was going to return for his sixth year of school. He made it public with one of the more entertaining tweets in the social media history of Bison football.

Gindorff took a film clip from the movie “Wolf of Wall Street,” where actor Leonardo DiCaprio announced he was not leaving his financial firm.

“Honestly, that went in my head almost instantly when it happened,” Gindorff said.

Reaction from Bison fans was a Twitter standing O. Granted, there was a swear word in DeCaprio’s passionate speech to his employees and Gindorff said that was a cause for pause.

He also couldn’t resist.

He’s not leaving. He’s not freaking leaving. The show goes on. They would need a wrecking ball and a SWAT team to take him out of the Fargodome.

“It was too good not to post at that moment so I had to post it,” Gindorff said.

Gindorff said he previously thought about the extra year of eligibility regardless of his pro prospects. When the injury happened, it was as if he was already prepared for it.

Later that night, sore and tired from the injury, he went to dinner with his parents, Mike and Wendy Gindorff, to discuss it further with them. The meal ended with all parties on the same page.

“I obviously value their input on stuff like that so it was good to have them there when it happened,” Noah said. “And to have their comfort was big in that moment. They were obviously sad but they understood the gravity of the situation and they wanted what’s best for me.”

Bison offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Tyler Roehl isn’t going to argue with the end result, saying “I will take Noah Gindorff as long as we possibly can.”

With rehabilitation still ongoing, Gindorff has a different role for spring practice. He’s more of a student assistant coach and Roehl would be hard pressed to find a more qualified one.

“His communication to players is just an extension of me,” Roehl said. “I think there’s a lot of value both for him and for our guys to learn from someone like him who has played at an extremely high level. He’s an extremely intelligent football player and person and he understands the game. I think it’s helping him in pushing him out of his comfort zone to be even more of a vocal leader. He’s grown in that role over the past couple of years.”

Make no mistake, with tight end Josh Babicz moving on to training for the NFL, having Gindorff back next fall is a major bonus for the Bison. Senior Hunter Luepke is an all-around threat as a running back, fullback and tight end, but Gindorff is the most experienced traditional tight end. Behind him are young players.

Gindorff has played in 50 career games. He has 38 receptions and 11 touchdowns and with Babicz moving on those statistics are poised to take another jump next fall.

This spring, he’s adding a more analytical approach to the game with his coaching duties. It’s not only about what the tight end is doing, he’s seeing what every other position is doing on a certain play.

The hope is to be 100% by the time summer workouts start.

“As soon as I can,” he said.

He’s not leaving. He’s not freaking leaving.