A former football wide receiver for Mosinee and the Green Bay Packers narrowly escaped death Friday.
Kole Heckendorf was staying at his brother-in-law’s house in Sauk Rapids, Minnesota when a small airplane crashed into the house, causing an explosion.
Jeff Hille is the homeowner, and he was away from home at a golf tournament when the plane dove into the house and exploded, destroying nearly everything.
Heckendorf told NBC Sports he didn’t really have time to do anything. He jumped out of a second story window, and landed on the ground uninjured. His dog Storm and all of the house furnishings were lost in the explosion.
Heckendorf and his new wife were planning on moving into their new house this weekend. The furniture the Heckendorf’s had acquired for their new home was lost in the explosion. Some of their belongings were not at the Hille’ s home, and were spared.
The two people inside the airplane were killed instantly.
The crash remains under investigation.
Heckendorf played high school football for Mosinee, and went on to college at North Dakota State University. He signed with the Packers as an undrafted free agent in 2009, and over the next three years spent some time with the Lions, the Seahawks, the Chargers, and the Colts before leaving football without playing in a regular season game.
(WSAU)