College football player, who’s also a diesel mechanic, fixes broken down team bus on way to game
By Keith Farner
Published:
Timmy Malinowski is an automotive technology major with experience as a diesel mechanic, and along with being a long snapper for Pittsburg State, Malinowski sprung into action on the way to a game.
While the team was on the road to Fort Hays State, one of the buses completely lost power. The team was forced to pull off to a rest area and address the problem, KSN reported. That’s when Malinowski jumped in, and learned that the bus was missing a hose clamp. Malinowski used a Leatherman multi-tool from his backpack to attach the hose clamp and get the team back on the road.
His coach, Brian Wright, praised him after the game, and said Malinowski’s actions show that his team isn’t just training to be successful at football, but at life, too.
Wright says, “You know, we got a lot of talented people here. Not just on the football field, but a lot of great people that can do a lot of great things that are gonna be very successful long after their experience here at Pitt State.”
Malinowski says, “I walked onto the bus [after fixing it] and everyone was like, screaming my name and stuff like that, mostly because I think they didn’t want to have to take everyone off that bus and get them all on the other one. [It would be] pretty crammed. So I think they were pretty happy about that.”
The Gorillas made it to Fort Hays, and won 34-24.
Pitt State didn’t just win on the field today.
You can also call this a pretty big W: the team bus broke down, but freshman Timmy Malinowski, who happens to be a diesel mechanic, swooped in to save the day. @PittStGorillas @GorillasFB @Coachbwright4 pic.twitter.com/CzwW3mffNi
— Shea Schrader (@sheaschrader) November 14, 2021
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
