Driver's belt. I have tried pulling hard, jerking it, and pretty much everything else to try to unsieze it so it retracts back in from its fully extended position. It's not that it is dragging (I fixed that problem last year by washing the belt and D-ring) Any suggestions? Thank you very much!

 

Sounds like the return spring has broken.
At any rate you will need to remove it and find out for sure.