USC RB Stafon Johnson injured in gruesome weightlifting accident

thanks for the insight. hopefully this all works out for him after a freakish accident. situation kind of reminds me of DByrd last year.

 

Not trying to argue but I've lifted free weights plenty of times. The spotter is there to catch the bar when it slips and keep it off of the lifter. Maybe the spotter here did all he/she could but its their job to "spot" the bar otherwise they are nothing but a spectator. Saw where his mom works at the hospital where he was treated. That must have been horrible for the family to experience. The doctors attribute the strength of his neck as a reason that the injury wasn't worse. The treating physician says he should be able to play football again, one of his teammates who witnessed what happened said thats the last thing on his mind. Prayers for a speedy recovery.

 

While part of the spotter's job is to maintain the lifter's safety that is really NOT their purpose. The spotter is there to assist the lifter in completing a rep if required, not to catch a slip. Most techniques require no more than index fingers on the bar at any time and even then the assist usually only comes at the lifter's request or at the projected end of the set.

Stafon is a very seasoned lifter. He was on the first rep of his last set. There is absolutely no reason for the spotter to have had his full hands on the bar which is what it would have taken to prevent 275 pounds from falling when and where it did. Conditioning coach Chris Carlisle was 10 feet away and said if it hadn't been for what the spotter DID do, Stafon would/could have been much more seriously injured.

I think he's done playing at USC but hopefully he'll get a chance in the NFL. Another interesting injury season out there. We have a backup DE who fractured his vertebrae last Saturday, a corner with burns from a motorcycle accident, a starting DT whose leg was broken Saturday, a WR with a broken collarbone and the usual knee, ankle stuff.

Mitch Mustain is trying to get on the field as the 1st team punter.

 

They say he is done at USC, but he will make a full recovery and could play in the NFL. They also say his conditioning is the reason why he survived, otherwise he could have died. I read he has so many muscles in his neck area that it help him survive the injury, anyone else would have died.

I hope he can resume his career, but Im glad he didnt die.

 

So safety is part of a spotters job but NOT a spotter's purpose ? I guess Johnson's spotter for this lift fullfilled his purpose but failed at part of his job then. Some might disagree with you on what a spotter is there to accomplish for a lift:

At weightlifting fest, spotters play key role
Mon Mar 5, 2007 2:03pm EST

COLUMBUS, Ohio, March 5 (Reuters Life!) - The muscled competitors at The Arnold powerlifting championship were getting all the attention, but Sean L'Italien was lifting more weight than all of them -- in small pieces, over and over again.

As weightlifters from all over the world slid under a massive barbell and bench-pressed up to 700 pounds at Arnold Schwarzenegger's weekend sports festival, L'Italien was one of two spotters who hovered nearby, making sure no one dropped the bar and killed himself.

"In a split second you could have 700 pounds falling on a chest. You have to watch the bar the whole time," said the sweat-soaked L'Italien during a five-minute break.

At weightlifting fest, spotters play key role | Special Coverage | Reuters

 

A weightlifting fest where participants are pressing 700 lbs is not the norm and frankly the quote you provided shows a deficiency between what is being claimed and the potential outcome. How can a spotter who is "hovering" believe they could stop a 700 pound weight from falling ON A CHEST? It's because they are looking to see if the rep will or will not be completed, NOT because the bar could potentially slip out of the lifter's hand (s). The quote says you have to WATCH the bar, not TOUCH the bar. A spotter only intervenes when a rep is in jeopardy of non-completion i.e. when the bar starts moving down instead of up.

The bar in Stafon's case hit his neck, not his chest, because it slipped. It did not occur as a result of his inability to complete the rep or anything other than a total accident which could not have been prevented by appropriate spotting. This is the comment from USC's conditioning coach and I'm pretty sure he's spent enough time in the gym to be considered an expert on the situation.

 

Its not "fortunate" that he was being spotted, hopefully thats standard operating procedure at USC and all campuses across the country. "Fortunate" seams to imply that having a spotter is not always the case. However, its very unfortunate for this young man that this accident was not prevented. Define his job however you wish but the spotter did not keep the bar off of Stafon' neck that much we know. Could he have if he was paying attention while doing his partial job but not his purpose is another question. But its certainly a legitimate question to ask in light of the fact that this young man could have been killed. I realize you want to defend USC here and thats fine but we're talking about someone's life and thats not anything to play around with. I hope USC does a critical analysis of this accident and determines if it has proper measures in place to protect its athletes, in fact it wouldn't be a bad idea for all schools to do so.

 

Injuries wont be an excuse to the masses tho when we take anther loss.

Possibly this Saturday.

Either way, I'm glad Stafon is okay. He was my favorite back on the team these past few years because he didnt complain about his role unlike CJ and he didnt get all the hype like Joe.

NFL? I dont know about that either considering scous will take this into account. Im not sure what to think of his future honestly because I wouldnt want him to risk anything that could make his life worse but, you cant live life scared either.