What happens when a scooter-bound 273-pound offensive lineman meets the front end of an F-150 head on?

A viral video.

Iowa’s Josh Koeppel is the subject of the latest web sensation. Footage of the crash shows the back-up center flipping into the air but managing to get back on his feet. The video, making the online rounds, has gained enough notoriety to garner Koeppel a fair share of attention, including an appearance on the NBC Today show.

There’s a couple amazing things about this footage. First is that Koeppel escaped the encounter without serious injury, getting back on his feet within seconds of the impact, though a bit dazed and confused. It’s a miracle considering his only head protection was the hood of his sweatshirt! (You think football players might appreciate the safety benefits of a helmet…) Amazing thing number two is that the driver of the pickup truck got out of the car and approached the hulking lineman to make sure he was alright.

Perhaps most amazing is that the footage was even captured at all. We can credit that to an Iowa City police cruiser, which recorded the incident by happenstance. After getting a recording from the police, Koeppel showed the footage to friends who recorded it via smart phone and then uploaded it to the Internet.

Scooters are reportedly a popular form of campus transport at Iowa. Many players on the football squad source them for transportation, and many do so without wearing any safety equipment, much to the chagrin of the team’s head coach Kirk Ferentz.

“I’ve been worried for 11 years, on a couple fronts. First of all very few of them wear helmets. So that’s the number one concern. Secondly, they’re just not protected when they’re on those, whether it’s a motorcycle or a moped,” said Ferentz in an interview with reporters. “It’s a very popular form of transportation, so we’re just trying to encourage them to be careful and also encourage them to wear helmets, but we haven’t been very successful in that front.”

Ben Roethlisberger made news crashing his Hayabusa sans helmet back in 2006. Earlier this year New York Giants defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka and his brother were involved in a motorcycle accident. His brother died after hitting a vehicle and was not wearing a helmet.