USC rb injured in freak (weight lifting) accident

[bama_belle]

USC Trojans running back Stafon Johnson injured his throat in a weightlifting accident Monday and required emergency surgery.
Johnson was bench pressing when the bar slipped from his hand and fell on his throat, according to a release from the school.

I hope this young man recovers quickly from his injury.

 

[specialkpntbl]

Man thats just scary to even think about....

I hope this guy is alright.

 

[TIDE-HSV]

I hope this young man recovers quickly from his injury.

Having a spotter helps...

 

[NYBamaFan]

Having a spotter helps...

Yeah, I used it as a teaching point talking to my 12 year old son as we watch MNF. Safety first when lifting...

 

[RTR91]

Having a spotter helps...

Earle, that's what I've been wondering. Did he not have a spotter? Please tell me our guys have spotters.

 

[TIDE-HSV]

Earle, that's what I've been wondering. Did he not have a spotter? Please tell me our guys have spotters.

We do, and, from what I can remember reading of this incident, he was alone. I'll try and check that. When I'm lifting alone, I go to dumbells for an inclined BP. It's safer and it actually mobilizes more groups than a standard BP...

 

[UA_Fan87]

Earle, that's what I've been wondering. Did he not have a spotter? Please tell me our guys have spotters.

I honestly don't think our guys are that stupid, you always need a spotter, no matter how much it weighs. I hope he recovers quickly though, hate to hear it.

 

[NYBamaFan]

Earle, that's what I've been wondering. Did he not have a spotter? Please tell me our guys have spotters.

The espn article says that an assistant coach was standing over him when it happened, and it was near the end of a set - but he wasn't trying to rack the weights. Very odd. Usually, if the bar slips when benching, it lands on your chest...

[ame="http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4512778"]USC Trojans' Stafon Johnson has surgery after weights mishap - ESPN[/ame]

 

[UA_Fan87]

The espn article says that an assistant coach was standing over him when it happened, and it was near the end of a set - but he wasn't trying to rach the weights. Very odd. Usually, if the bar slips when benching, it lands on your chest...

USC Trojans' Stafon Johnson has surgery after weights mishap - ESPN

That sounds kinda fishy then, if that's the case. =/

 

[TRich3]

Sometimes your spotter cant help you, if he was pumping easy then the spotter might have let him do it alone and it just slipped. Ive had a weight lifting accident of my own while having spotters, it wasn't as bad as this though.

 

[RTR91]

The espn article says that an assistant coach was standing over him when it happened, and it was near the end of a set - but he wasn't trying to rack the weights. Very odd. Usually, if the bar slips when benching, it lands on your chest...

USC Trojans' Stafon Johnson has surgery after weights mishap - ESPN

An assistant coach? Seems to me that the coach would pay more attention than a fellow player. This is strange.

 

[AlexanderFan]

Chances are, short of Ken Norton Jr, most assistant coaches couldn't help with the spot of a major college running back.
Posted via Mobile Device

 

[TIDE-HSV]

Chances are, short of Ken Norton Jr, most assistant coaches couldn't help with the spot of a major college running back.
Posted via Mobile Device

Good point. When I was rehabbing my ACL, at six weeks, I'd worked up to about 600 lb on the leg sled. I was always at the gym when the door opened at 5:00 AM. One AM, the only other person in the gym was the slender little receptionist. I asked her to come back while I did the leg presses. When she saw the amount of weight, she said something to the effect that there wasn't anything she could do to help me if the sled got out of control. I just said "Sweetheart, all I want you to do is call 911..."

 

[CapstoneGrad06]

I hope this young man recovers quickly from his injury.

Reading the title, I just knew it was going to be Joe McKnight. He has had a series of "freak accidents" at Southern Cal. As for Stafon Johnson, I hate to hear it. He's a great tailback, and a integral part of the Trojan backfield.

 

[superchief]

I dropped a bar with 185# from a fully extended position when I was trying to readjust my grip. It landed across the middle of my chest. I felt my ribcage collapse a little but it bounced back. My friend came to check on me since he heard me make the "i just dropped something heavy on my chest" sound. Nothing broken but I was a little sore the next day.

 

[AlphaSnail]

Chances are, short of Ken Norton Jr, most assistant coaches couldn't help with the spot of a major college running back.
Posted via Mobile Device

Ed Orgeron could pull a 400lb plate loaded barbell off your throat.

Heck, I can't bench 400, but I could deadlift it off a guys throat so that he could crawl out from under it. It probably happened so fast though, that the damage was done immediately after the weight dropped.
Posted via Mobile Device

 

[uafan4life]

I'm still trying to figure out how this happened. Part of me thinks there's more here than is being reported. 275 is a lot of weight, but it's not that much weight. Not for a college RB. Heck, it's not a lot of weight for many high school RBs. Anyway, there's only 3 ways that I can think of that this could happen. 1) He's trying to rack it and lets go, 2) it's way too much weight and he lets his wrists roll back and it slips out, or 3) he's literally throwing it up there on the bench and misses a catch.

The first one is the most plausible, but the article says that wasn't it. The second should never, ever happen with a spotter, especially an assistant strength coach. If the wrists roll back, the spotter grabs the bar. That's what he's looking for. As for throwing it up, guys do that in high school and the local gym all the time, but usually not that much weight. They'll throw the weight up as fast as they can, letting the bar leave their hands and catching it on the down. This is very dangerous, and could very likely cause what happened. I'm not saying that is what happened, I'm just wondering if it could be something like that. It's akin to doing push-ups where you push yourself off the ground and clap in the middle, except with a bench press. I've never seen anybody actually try to clap like that doing throw-presses, but I guess it's possible.

Regardless, there's something very odd about that accident. Wish him the best of luck and a speedy recovery. I can't imagine how much that would hurt.

 

[LoyalAlum]

I just heard on the radio that he's expected to recover after undergoing emergency surgery.

 

[Rasputin]

I'm still trying to figure out how this happened. Part of me thinks there's more here than is being reported. 275 is a lot of weight, but it's not that much weight. Not for a college RB. Heck, it's not a lot of weight for many high school RBs. Anyway, there's only 3 ways that I can think of that this could happen. 1) He's trying to rack it and lets go, 2) it's way too much weight and he lets his wrists roll back and it slips out, or 3) he's literally throwing it up there on the bench and misses a catch.

The first one is the most plausible, but the article says that wasn't it. The second should never, ever happen with a spotter, especially an assistant strength coach. If the wrists roll back, the spotter grabs the bar. That's what he's looking for. As for throwing it up, guys do that in high school and the local gym all the time, but usually not that much weight. They'll throw the weight up as fast as they can, letting the bar leave their hands and catching it on the down. This is very dangerous, and could very likely cause what happened. I'm not saying that is what happened, I'm just wondering if it could be something like that. It's akin to doing push-ups where you push yourself off the ground and clap in the middle, except with a bench press. I've never seen anybody actually try to clap like that doing throw-presses, but I guess it's possible.

Regardless, there's something very odd about that accident. Wish him the best of luck and a speedy recovery. I can't imagine how much that would hurt.

Nothing weird here at all actually...This is somewhat of a common occurrence for athletes compared to other "freakish" things we talk about. A lot of times an athlete while lifting will try to rack the weight and it only catches on one side or bounces back off of the metal. The closest thing to the weight would be a person's head or neck. I have personally seen this happen to a college athlete during my playing days. This particular athlete benched near 500 and was only repping 315 at the time, the weight doesn't particularly matter, all it takes is for someone to take the weight for granted for one instance and devastation can strike!

 

[NYBamaFan]

Nothing weird here at all actually...This is somewhat of a common occurrence for athletes compared to other "freakish" things we talk about. A lot of times an athlete while lifting will try to rack the weight and it only catches on one side or bounces back off of the metal. The closest thing to the weight would be a person's head or neck. I have personally seen this happen to a college athlete during my playing days. This particular athlete benched near 500 and was only repping 315 at the time, the weight doesn't particularly matter, all it takes is for someone to take the weight for granted for one instance and devastation can strike!

Agreed, and my first thought was that he must have been racking the weight - but Pete Carroll said specifically that this was not the case. He was not trying to rack the weights when the bar slipped...