UND’s Hunter Pinke spoke to Alabama football, then reached an even larger audience on social media

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Aug. 9—GRAND FORKS — As new Alabama head football coach Kalen DeBoer attempted to schedule a speaking engagement with former UND football captain Hunter Pinke, the two ran into a logistical hold-up.

Pinke, a Wishek, N.D., native who severed his spine in a skiing accident in 2019,

was attempting to schedule flights to Alabama and back to North Dakota that allowed him to speak in Tuscaloosa with enough time to return to speak at Prairie Bible Camp in tiny Lehr, N.D.

"I can't reschedule that," Pinke told DeBoer of the Lehr event. "Either you guys have to rearrange your day or we need to find another day."

DeBoer must've really wanted Pinke. The most powerful college football program in the country juggled its schedule to accommodate.

Pinke can only laugh thinking of Alabama shuffling its day to take care of Prairie Bible Camp.

So last Friday, Pinke flew to Alabama and spoke with the Crimson Tide. A video of his message went viral on social media. The original video has almost one million views on X, formerly known as Twitter. National college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit, a fixture on ESPN's College Game Day, tweeted about Pinke's video and said "what perspective!"

"That was unique," Pinke said of the social media attention. "It's the same story I've been telling the last four years. I haven't changed much. It's the same message I've been telling people from Wishek to Alabama football. The message hasn't changed.

"For it to get traction on a national level? That's cool for me. Hopefully, it gives more people hope. It's pretty fulfilling to go on Twitter and look at tweet quotes and see what people are saying ... like 'Man, I needed this.' That's what it's all about for me. How many glasses can I pour into? That's so satisfying. The tweet from Herbstreit was cool because I grew up watching College Game Day. I still watch College Game Day. That's pretty neat for me."

Pinke and DeBoer first connected last season when DeBoer was at the University of Washington. One of DeBoer's assistants at Washington was Mandan native Eric Schmidt, who was previously a UND star linebacker then UND's defensive coordinator and recruited Pinke to Grand Forks out of high school.

When Washington first learned about the possibility of Pinke speaking to the team, a staff member reached out to UND head football coach Bubba Schweigert to check on the validity of Pinke's ability.

"Bubba said if you guys aren't blown away by Hunter, I'll pay his entire speaking fee," Pinke recalled. "So Washington brings me in and it goes over well."

DeBoer, a native of Milbank, S.D., was head coach at the University of Sioux Falls in 2009 when the then-NAIA school beat UND.

DeBoer would cross paths with Schweigert as assistants at Southern Illinois. DeBoer was also the other finalist for head coach at UND when Schweigert was hired following the departure of Chris Mussman in 2013.

Pinke said the experience at Alabama was eye-opening.

"You have an idea what it's going to be like, then you walk in a room with all those national championship trophies and Heisman trophies," Pinke said. "The walls are lined with jerseys of the Alabama first-round draft picks. Not draft picks. First-round draft picks. The standard ... you can just feel it."

In a matter of three days last weekend, Pinke spoke to Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Friday, the bible camp in Lehr on Saturday and his alma mater UND on Sunday.

So what's next for Pinke?

"Barley harvest," Pinke said. "Speaking is just one of the avenues I want to keep pursuing. My happy place is driving a grain cart for my grandpa and helping someone design a home.

"I'm never going to stop talking to North Dakota kids. Every year, I put aside two weeks to just talk to kids in North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota. I'm not going to change that. As far as speaking, what's next? Good question. My photographer joked I need to start doing a better job saying 'ya-all' because they're going to want me to speak all over the SEC. I won't be pursuing that. If (other college football teams) reach out, I'll get back to them."

Since his ski accident Dec. 27, 2019, Pinke said the way he maps the future is different.

"I had everything planned out," Pinke said. "I was going to graduate from UND, work for Anheuser-Busch and be an engineer at the Fort Collins brewery. Well, here I am talking to Alabama in a wheelchair.

"I think God has his hand on that. I'm not too worried. Like I said in the video, my direction is set. I want to pour into people. Along that path, there's so many things that can happen. Proverbs 16:9 — The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. What's next? Who knows. I can guarantee I'm going to enjoy the journey. It has been so good. Post-accident, before my accident, I feel pretty lucky."

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UND’s Hunter Pinke spoke to Alabama football, then reached an even larger audience on social media

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