From the dude who got his neck crushed while bench pressing at USC. I'm pretty sure he signed as a free agent for the Titans, was doing decent during the preseason (I think Fisher liked him and was at least going to give him some burn on special teams) but then had a season ending injury.

Guess he's doing this so he can get some dollar bucks just in case he never makes it back onto a team.

http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/ncf/news/story?id=6055248

Quote :

"BEVERLY HILLS -- Former University of Southern California tailback Stafon Johnson filed a lawsuit against the university in Los Angeles County Superior Court Monday, alleging negligence on behalf of former assistant strength coach Jamie Yanchar and the school in relation to the September 2009 weightlifting accident that threatened Johnson's life and football career. Johnson was injured during mandatory team weightlifting workouts at approximately 11 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 28, 2009, two days after a USC home win over Washington State. Initial reports from the incident implied that Johnson's hands slipped and lost control of a bar while bench-pressing 275 pounds, causing the bar to drop and land on his neck and throat, but Johnson's lawyer, Carl Douglas, said that was not accurate. "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," Douglas said at a news conference Monday afternoon. "We think for that, those that are responsible should be held responsible for their actions." Johnson, his mother Kim Mallory and his Beverly Hills-based attorneys held a news conference Monday afternoon, with Johnson reading from a prepared statement and Douglas and Mallory answering questions from the assembled media. The lawsuit was filed earlier Monday. Seeking unspecified damages for medical-related expenses, pain and suffering and loss of future earnings exceeding $25,000, the lawsuit alleges that Yanchar was distracted and not paying attention to Johnson at the time of the incident and thus "failed to take notice that, as the bar was being lifted from the rack, Johnson was not then ready to take hold of and lift the bar." It also alleges that Yanchar, then in his 19th year at USC, was "negligently and carelessly inattentive" to properly placing the bar into Johnson's hands and instead paying attention toward one or more other members of the football team who were not then engaging in weightlifting activities. Read the lawsuit: "Defendant Yanchar's negligent, careless and reckless act and omission, in striking the bar with his body, was something that Mr. Johnson was not expecting to occur and he was therefore unprepared for the bar to be knocked off balance." Johnson underwent several surgeries and therapy for his injuries stemming from the accident. Yanchar spent last season with the NFL's Seattle Seahawks, where he worked under former USC head football coach Pete Carroll. He was hired two weeks after Carroll left for the Seahawks, in January 2010, passing up his position as interim head strength coach at USC. "USC firmly believes it was not at fault in Stafon Johnson's unfortunate weightlifting accident," USC said in a statement released Monday afternoon. "We are sorry that Stafon was injured. USC and the entire Trojan Family have been exceptionally supportive of Stafon from the minute the accident occurred. We are disappointed to learn that Stafon has decided to file a lawsuit against USC." Johnson, who spoke for a little more than five minutes, thanked fans across the world and former teammates for their wide-reaching support in the wake of the accident. He echoed Douglas in saying that he hoped those responsible for the accident would be held responsible in court but said he harbored no ill will toward USC. "This lawsuit does not in any way reduce my love for the cardinal and gold," Johnson said Monday. "I was injured, and I feel that if others had been careful, this injury would have been avoided." Douglas declined to say when Johnson had retained him, although he did say he had attempted to work with the university "many months ago" to reach a settlement. "As you could imagine, there have been efforts in the past to resolve this matter quietly and informally," Douglas said. "Regrettably, they were not successful, so we were left with no other option but to file this lawsuit.""

1/25/2011 7:51:02 AM

This is retarded, but anything that is a black eye on USC is okay with me.

1/25/2011 8:09:22 AM

I don't really like it, but I also don't think it's too far-fetched and I've seen much worse lawsuits.

First, I'm 99.9% sure all his medical costs were covered anyways with it being an accident while he was training for a University sponsored sport. I would be very surprised if USC doesn't have insurance for that.

And although accidents do happen, if they can prove that the "spotter" was kind of joking around and acting nonchalantly while he was spotting, then I don't see anything wrong with giving this guy a little money. I don't think he's entitled to millions, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him get a couple hundred thousand.

1/25/2011 8:18:01 AM

Quote :

"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"

Quote :

"Yanchar was distracted and not paying attention to Johnson at the time of the incident and thus "failed to take notice that, as the bar was being lifted from the rack, Johnson was not then ready to take hold of and lift the bar." It also alleges that Yanchar, then in his 19th year at USC, was "negligently and carelessly inattentive" to properly placing the bar into Johnson's hands and instead paying attention toward one or more other members of the football team who were not then engaging in weightlifting activities."

Basically knocked out of his hand != improperly placed into his hands

Seems like a stupid case, but I do believe if the coach was talking to another player, not watching Johnson, and lifted the bar out onto Johnson when he was not ready and essentially dropping it on him, then I could see him being at fault.

Quote :

"Seeking unspecified damages for medical-related expenses, pain and suffering and loss of future earnings exceeding $25,000, "

Seems shitty to be suing USC when I would think that player insurance would cover everything...except for pain/suffering and loss of future earnings. I'm curious if Johnson had to pay anything out of pocket (being the medical expenses) that USC didn't cover.

1/25/2011 8:20:54 AM

Quote :

"Seems shitty to be suing USC when I would think that player insurance would cover everything...except for pain/suffering and loss of future earnings."

That's what the lion's share of these types of lawsuits are for anyways. Although I'm sure his medical costs were pretty high, as we've both mentioned, I'm sure they've already been paid for by the school.

1/25/2011 8:23:22 AM

This all stems from the fact that he flamed out of the NFL. If he could keep a job in the league, he wouldn't bother with a suit because he would already be making several hundred thousand. As it is now, he probably has no real skills to fall back on outside of football and is making the suit as a desperation act to salvage something out of his once promising career.

1/25/2011 9:03:32 AM

So sick of shit like this.

I hope he gets nothing except a fat bill from his lawyer.

1/25/2011 9:31:15 AM

^^While I agree, I think he did pretty well preseason with the Titans. And coming back from that type of injury is pretty impressive. He obviously doesn't have a positive outlook on his future in the NFL with the labor disputes and considering the fact that he didn't have a solid foothold in the league anyways.

Quote :

"I hope he gets nothing except a fat bill from his lawyer."

He won't have to pay his lawyer anything if they don't get any money. Let me introduce you to a "contingency fee."

1/25/2011 9:33:28 AM

^ding.

I would be less upset if he had filed this suit earlier. He's clearly just wanting money now.

1/25/2011 9:33:43 AM

^^ is that a standard thing, or would he have to negotiate for it?

1/25/2011 9:41:53 AM

Pretty much standard for personal injury

Otherwise all the ambulance chasers wouldn't market to lower class demographics

1/25/2011 9:46:39 AM

I'm going to lift hundreds of pounds of steel over my head, and if I hurt myself, I will find a way to blame somebody else.

1/25/2011 9:54:58 AM

I don't really understand what happened, if the trainer basically lifted the bar and accidentally dropped it on his neck then yea sue but I don't see how thats possible

1/25/2011 4:51:40 PM

Quote :

"First, I'm 99.9% sure all his medical costs were covered anyways with it being an accident while he was training for a University sponsored sport. I would be very surprised if USC doesn't have insurance for that."

Johnson moved hospitals immediately after the accident to get out from under SC's care/insurance.

1/25/2011 4:59:44 PM

Get this guy the fuck out of here

fucking ninny

1/25/2011 5:12:49 PM

How the hell you gonna sue many many months after the injury? And eyewitnesses can't be reliable at all at this point so far after the accident.

And, I don't know how big their strength trainer is, but you can't just casually give a 275lb lift off where you don't realize the lifter didn't aid the lift off. Furthermore, for it to come down on his neck he would have already had to have it off the rack meaning he was in fact holding it. It also means his dumbass was benching open handed which can't be considered the trainers fault at all.

We should be more pissed at the lawyer for taking this case than the guy doing the suing, because after all, one is just a dumb athlete and the other holds an advanced degree and should know better.

1/25/2011 5:36:18 PM

You sign a waiver to work out in a collegiate weight lifting facility whether you are a varisty athlete or not.


Sorry. Go home tailback.

1/25/2011 5:39:28 PM

^ Employee neglect/wrong doing probably wouldn't fall under that when it was the assistant trainer that allegedly messed up.

But I really have no idea as I'm not a lawyer.

1/25/2011 6:02:50 PM

Quote :

"And, I don't know how big their strength trainer is, but you can't just casually give a 275lb lift off where you don't realize the lifter didn't aid the lift off. Furthermore, for it to come down on his neck he would have already had to have it off the rack meaning he was in fact holding it. It also means his dumbass was benching open handed which can't be considered the trainers fault at all."

That's kinda my thought as well.
That article makes it sound like the lift was on his back with his arms straight up, waiting for the trainer to place the bar into his hands. And then the trainer dropped the bar on his neck...

1/25/2011 6:07:38 PM

what loss of future earnings ? didnt he fuck himself by -actually- making the team? I could see that being a sticking point, did it really limit his future earnings if he made an NFL football team after the incident?

1/25/2011 6:39:54 PM

A bad spot/spotter can certainly fuck up your lift. Lifting it strongly and dropping it could be a big shock of weight if the lifter isn't prepared to have the weight "dropped" into his grip. That's opposed to helping lift it in a controlled manner and easing it into the lifters control. High enough weight and this can get dangerous if the spotter is fucking around

The unbolded part mentions the spotters body hitting the bar too...I'm real curious now

[Edited on January 25, 2011 at 7:15 PM. Reason : L]

1/25/2011 7:13:22 PM

^yea but I can't imagine the trainer would just unrack the weight by himself when he was standing over him and then dropped it, that would require a ton of strength/effort one and be absolutely idiotic two, if thats what happened though then yeah I'd kill the guy

1/25/2011 9:25:12 PM

It is very difficult for me to imagine a scenario where someone drops the bar on their neck. On their chest? Yeah, that kinda thing happens every day. But for the bar to hit Johnson's neck, he must not have ever gotten the bar situated correctly on his palms. Even if you are open-handing it, it'll never get past your knuckles because your wrists don't bend that way. At least mine don't. I simply cannot drop a bar backwards onto my neck when my elbows are out where they are supposed to be while benching. Especially not while my arms are extended, which is the implication in this case.

Maybe Johnson is a limp-wristed faggot who can bend his hands backwards while extending his arms. Or maybe the trainer really did drop that bar into his hands before he was ready. Tough to say.

1/26/2011 2:24:27 AM

Not saying the trainer lifted it all himself, just that maybe he sucked at transferring the weight to johnson after unracking it

1/26/2011 7:17:15 AM

rampant speculation ITT

Nobody knows exactly what happened except the people involved. Hopefully the facts will come out now that the lawsuit is filed.

1/26/2011 10:22:22 AM