Tennessee Titans rookie running back Stafon Johnson has to be wondering how unlucky can he be. After suffering one of the most horrific injuries that we can imagine when weights that he was bench pressing came crashing down on his neck, Stafon defied the odds of many doctors by beating the injury and being cleared to play football again.
Then on Saturday night, the unthinkable happened. Stafon suffered a gruesome injury again with what is being called a “dislocated ankle.”
Stafon went undrafted out of USC after not playing a game after September 26th, 2009 and was signed as a free agent by the Tennessee Titans. Stafon was battling for a roster spot during training camp.
On Saturday night against the Seattle Seahawks, Stafon caught a short pass from rookie quarterback Rusty Smith and after turning up field was tackled and had his ankle caught under him. During the replays, you could obviously see how Johnson’s ankle was turned at a very awkward angle. Johnson laid on the ground for quite some time while trainers and teammates gathered around him. Before Johnson was carted off the field, Seattle head coach and Johnson’s former college coach at USC Pete Carroll, hugged Johnson. Carroll later said that he told Johnson:
“I told him I loved him, and no one can get tougher or stronger than he is. I was so sorry to see that, This guy, what he’s undergone to get here, so much pressure physically and emotionally, and to have a serious injury. … If anybody can get back, he can. He’s an absolute warrior.”
Later, Johnson said:
“Bouncing back from trials and tribulations, this is just a bump in the road,” “God has brought me back this far, and it felt good to be where I’d gotten to. This is minimum compared to what I have been through, really.”
Let’s hope Stafon can make it back from this setback and get a chance to compete on the field again. Leave well wishes for Stafon on his Twitter account @stafon13.
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