Josephson on the mend

While legs are an athlete's engine, AJ Josephson had to perform with faulty spark plugs during the football season. Now the engine, which is currently up on blocks and being repaired, won't be available until possibly the start of the spring track season.
Playing throughout the fall season with a nagging ankle injury, Alex Josephson still managed to perform well on most game days. He finished the season with 960 yards rushing despite being injured and limited to only 18 total carries over the final five games of the season.
"It started at SMSU summer camp when a player rolled up on me and I sprained my ankle," Josephson explained. "Then all the way through the football season I had to tape my left ankle every single day."
But the situation manifested itself when he was heading to the end zone on a 49-yard run in the Section 5A semifinals against Dawson-Boyd at K.P. Kompelien Field. Normally, the state track star would not have been caught had it not been for pulling his hamstring and being tackled at the four-yard line.
"That led to getting dry-needled at physical therapy a few times a week," said Josephson. "After this happened, nothing in my left leg ever seemed to be 100 percent, but I kept playing through it."
Josephson, a senior running back/defensive back, then was forced to miss the section championship against BOLD at Southwest Minnesota State University, then came back to play sparingly in the state quarterfinals, carrying the ball three times for 35 yards.
The next week in the state semifinals at U.S. Bank Stadium, Josephson gained 41 yards in 10 carries; still well below his per-game average of 90 yards.
Late in the state championship game against Mayer Lutheran, Josephson's season came to a crashing halt.
"With nine minutes left in the game, I felt a 'pop' in my left knee while tackling someone," Josephson said.
After the game, he knew something wasn't quite right and returned to physical therapy.
"They told me to go and get an MRI," he said. "I got an MRI on Dec. 7 and the next morning my results came back and I was told I tore my ACL and meniscus. I'm not 100 percent sure when I tore my meniscus, but I know I tore my ACL during the championship game."
Josephson had surgery on the morning of Dec. 15 at the Orthopedic Institute in Sioux Falls and he was discharged later that same day.
Josephson, a starter on last season's basketball team, will miss the entire 2021-22 season.
"I was pretty bummed knowing that I would miss my senior season," he said. "Knowing that I would never step on the court again with my teammates was devastating."
Josephson will be on crutches for three weeks, as well as wearing a leg brace.
"The doctors told me that I should be able to start running at the end of March, which is the start of the track season," Josephson said.
Josephson plans to attend either Minnesota State University-Mankato for Aviation or Alexandria Technical Institute for Law Enforcement next fall.
"If I end up at Mankato, there is a possibility of running track," he concluded.