DEVELOPING: Stafon Johnson Suing USC

((HT: KABC-TV))

A weightlifting accident more than a year ago nearly ended the life and college career of former USC running back Stafon Johnson. Now, he's suing the school.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.

In September 2009, an accident in the weight room crushed his larynx when a bar loaded with 275 pounds fell on Johnson's neck during a bench press exercise.

The running back eventually recovered, but he was out the rest of the 2009 season.

He was picked up by the Tennessee Titans last April as a free agent, but his action in 2010 was limited because of an ankle injury he sustained in the preseason.

ESPN's Shelley Smith discusses...


"What we say occurred is that the bar was basically knocked out of his hand, causing it to fall on Stafon's neck, almost causing him to die," Johnson's attorney, Carl Douglas, said at a news conference Monday afternoon. "We think for that, those that are responsible should be held responsible for their actions."

Here's your refresher from our friends at MyFoxLA...

USC's Stafon Johnson Prognosis Good: MyFoxLA.com

Stafon Johnson Disclocates Ankle In Pre-Season Debut

Titans running back, and ex-USC'er, Stafon Johnson was hit high and spun around by Seattle's Kam Chancellor following a short reception on the final play of the third quarter. He then landed hard on his right leg, just around the right fibula.

Then, the ankle went a direction it wasn't supposed to go...

The Titans came out onto the field and prayed on one knee nearby as head coach Jeff Fisher held Johnson’s head and talked to him briefly. The running back was driven off the field while seated on the back of a cart. An air cast was on his lower right leg.

The Titans’ Twitter feed said the initial diagnosis is a dislocated right ankle

"I was just so sorry to see Stafon get hurt," Pete Carroll said after the game. "This was a guy that had to undergo so much physical pressure and mental pressure. It looked bad, and he was very broken up by it. I know that (Tennessee coach) Jeff (Fisher) thinks the world of Stafon and if anybody can get back, he can.

"He's an absolute warrior. He will do it. He's done it before under worse circumstances, and this will be a challenge for him."

“It’s very, very difficult for Stafon,” Coach Fisher said. “With what he’s been able to overcome, you could see by the reaction of his teammates that he’s a special young man. He’ll overcome this as well.”

More when we know more...

Tennessee Titans Get It Right...

You look at the draft list that the Tennessee Titans had for the 2010 Draft and you might nod your head a little bit. You'd think in "American Bandstand" terminology, that it was a "65 that you couldn't dance to..."

Average at best, six of the nine selections were on the defensive side of the ball... blah, blah, blah...

Look closer...

Derrick Morgan fell into their lap at 16- A kid from Georgia Tech who can get after the quarterback. But then you look at the linebacker they picked up in Rennie Curran from Georgia in Round Three.

He's "too small" you say...???

But that's what they said about Sam Mills, too. Curran hits harder than Mills ever did and is a state weightlifting champ as a high school athlete. His family escaped Liberia before Rennie was even born, but the family's home became a safe house for countrymen looking to escape what Charles Taylor had done as a warlord...

The HQ is well aware of the looks on your face at this point... just look it up and consider it your Civics lesson for today...
((HT: AlJazeeraEnglish))


In the sixth round, they picked up Rusty Smith from Florida Atlantic as a QB.
Yeah, but he "played in the Sun Belt Conference."

Remember who his coach was in college...?

Howard Schnellenberger...

And remember what he's going through as a father...???
How's that for a role model...???
((Rusty is pictured with Stephen Schnellenberger, thanks Sunsentinel.com))

Refresh your memory here with Ted Hutton's story from the SunSentinel...

Then there's the guy whose football desire was questioned that they selected after that. As part of the HQ was watching the draft, TBH was livid that a stand-up example of a person was still undrafted while other athletes with issues a mile-and-a-half long were snatched up without a second thought.

Here's a kid who took a year off from football to be a Rhodes Scholar, and coaches are questioning his "deserting his teammates?" A coach from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers actually said that in a combine interview to Rolle.

She was ready to gut-punch everyone at the combine that claimed to be an authority figure that was "concerned" about his desire to play football and not be the future president of the Bahamas- or some damn lofty goal like that... and could, actually, accomplish the goal...

TBH also brought up the interesting point of wondering just how many kids who left school early to declare for the NFL Draft were asked the same question about "deserting their teammates."

The answer: Probably none...

Apparently, an NFC executive texted Yahoo!Sports and said Rolle is a "better story than he is a ballplayer."

"What an ass!" TBH yelled back at the computer screen...
That's why an AFC team scooped him up, right...???

Here's the story the four-letter did on Rolle the Rhodes Scholar...
((HT: RiceSportsManagement/ESPN))


Then there's Stafon Johnson... undrafted free agent...
His story is better told in his own voice, and no that wasn't meant as a poor pun...

Here's the profile the four-letter's "College Football Live" put together on Johnson.
((HT: OmniChristianVids2/ESPN))


Among the kid who's too small, the kid who's too smart, and the kid who's too hurt, the Tennessee Titans have gotten this one right in a league where getting it wrong seems to be more the norm...

Stafon Johnson Leaves Hospital

((HT: KCBS-TV))

Johnson seemed upbeat at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center during his first public appearance since the accident. He's scheduled to be released later Wednesday.

Wearing a black USC sweatshirt, Johnson walked through the hospital easily and smiled at his mother.

Although he still has a breathing tube in his throat and can't swallow, Johnson's medical team says he's made a remarkable recovery since accidentally dropping a weight bar on his neck, crushing his throat and larynx.

Doctors don't know when Johnson will be able to speak, but they say his ability to play football again will largely depend on his own desire.

Here's Pete Carroll addressing the situation, thanks to CBS2...


Those of us at OSG HQ hope Stafon makes it to the sidelines this weekend in South Bend to root the Trojans on ((to end a sentence in a preposition))...

And that USC kicks the Irish's ass...

Stafon Johnson Seriously Injured

USC Running Back Stafon Johnson was seriously hurt this afternoon in a weightlifting accident. Johnson was apparently working out, doing bench presses, when the bar somehow fell and landed on his throat.

The injury was severe enough that Johnson was spitting up blood and was rushed to the hospital where he was undergoing surgery.

The story from the LA Times HERE.
More from NBCLA.com HERE.

Johnson, one of the Trojans leaders on offense was having a good season for an offense that had been struggling this season. According to reports, the injury wasn't "Life Threatening", but could potentially be "Career Ending".

This story will obviously be updated as more information becomes available.
Here's Derrin Horton's live shot from outside USC's practice facility.
Thanks to our friends at KTLA