S10 Blazer stuck in reverse

Recently I revived my '98 S10 Blazer after it had been hibernating in my backyard for about a year. After getting it started I proceeded to reverse out of my driveway and as soon as I hit the brakes and tried to shift into drive I heard a pop/snap sound from the steering column and it would not shift out of reverse. In fact, the gear selection indicator light is no longer present but the rest of the gear display is lit up. Also the shift lever feels different… not quite floppy, but it doesn’t have the same resistance like it used to. I then proceeded to restart the car, but of course it won’t fire up again because it is now stuck in reverse despite what position the shift lever is in. I’ve removed the steering column cover, but everything appears to be ok there, and the shift linkage looks OK at least until it goes into the firewall (haven’t traced it all the way to the tranny). Anyone have any ideas???

The linkage has probably come loose from the transmission. Check it out. I would not be at all surprised if you find a big chunk of grass/weeds/dirt on the transmission linkage.

Absolutely a linkage issue, your going to have to get under the truck.