Originally Posted by
ooIRON MANoo
After practice today, Coach Carroll spoke about the injury suffered by Stafon Johnson while working on the bench press.
Carroll said that he was going through his normal Monday workout and was being spotted by a member of the strength and conditioning staff. We had heard earlier that Johnson was working with a weight of 275 pounds.
Johnson was alert when he was taken from campus in an ambulance, although he could not talk at the time. He is currently at California Hospital and Carrol did not know if he was out of surgery yet. Carroll did reiterate that this is indeed a serious situation.
The best news so far is that one of Johnson's family members said that they were told by doctors that the situation is repairable.
[h2]Johnson dropped weight bar on throat[/h2]
Comment Email Print By Ted Miller
ESPN.com
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USC Trojans running back
Stafon Johnson injured his throat in a weightlifting accident Monday and required emergencysurgery.
Johnson was bench pressing when the bar slipped from his hand and fell on his throat, according to a release from the school.
"It hit him with a lot of force, and it hurt him," coach Pete Carroll said after the Trojans' brief practice Monday night. "No brokenbones as far as I understand, but he's got some damage in there somewhere, and they're working it out, trying to figure out what it is. ... It isserious. He did get hurt, so we don't know exactly what it is, and they're not going to know until they go through the surgery."
Immediately after the accident, Johnson was coughing up blood, a source close to the USC football program told ESPN's Shelley Smith.
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It's unclear how long Johnson will be out, but it's unlikely he will be ready to play on Saturday at
California.
Carroll said Johnson "was OK," but couldn't speak, when he left the weight room for California Hospital Medical Center. Johnson's familyand friends gathered at the hospital on Monday to await word on his surgery.
"That happens sometimes when you're doing bench presses, but this one just hit him wrong," Carroll said. "You can miss the rack orsomething. This was right at the end of his set, and he wasn't putting the bar down on the rack yet."
An assistant strength and conditioning coach was standing over Johnson at the time of the accident.
"I've seen players have the bar slip and fall onto their chest, but never in my 25 years of coaching have I heard of someone dropping a bar ontheir throat," said head strength and conditioning coach Chris Carlisle, who was standing 10 feet away at the time of the accident. "We'refortunate he was being spotted."
Johnson, a 5-foot-11, 210-pound senior from Compton, Calif., is the Trojans' second-leading rusher and goal-line specialist. He's rushed 32 timesfor 157 yards this year and leads the team with five touchdowns. He entered the season with 1,395 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns.
Johnson's absence likely means more carries for 235-pound junior
AllenBradford or perhaps 225-pound sophomore
Marc Tyler.
