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Elizabeth Baier
Rochester, Minn.

Months after assault, giant steps tonight for ex-Mankato State football player

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Former Minnesota State University, Mankato linebacker Isaac Kolstad is expected to lead the Mavericks' football team onto the field tonight for the season opener against St. Cloud State.

Vigil for Dallas Kolstad
Friends, teammates and community members held a candle light vigil on May 11 in Mankato for former Minnesota State, Mankato, linebacker Isaac Dallas Kolstad after he was assaulted.
John Cross / The Mankato Free Press via AP

Kolstad suffered life-threatening brain injuries after an assault outside a Mankato bar in May.

The players are eager to have Kolstad serve as honorary captain for the game, said head football coach Todd Hoffner.

"He was given a less than 3 percent chance to live. And miraculously, he has progressed to walking, he's getting his speech back, and things that we take for granted on a daily basis that Isaac has had to relearn, and is relearning, as we speak," Hoffner said.

"It'll be an emotional time for all of his friends who are on the football team and it'll be exciting for the fans to see where Isaac has come to, knowing where he's been," he added.

Prosecutors have charged former University of Minnesota quarterback Philip Nelson, as well as another man, Trevor Shelley of St. Peter, in the assault on Kolstad.