You might recall USC’s Josh Shaw, the Trojans’ former football co-captain, who was suspended before the college football season for faking this rescue story about saving his drowning nephew to explain his sprained ankles.
Well Shaw has decided to come clean about what actually happened that caused him to sprain both his ankles. The former Trojan explained the whole thing to the L.A. Times‘, Bill Plaschke, to try and make amends to the duped public.
Apparently, Shaw had just returned from a Trojans’ preseason barbeque to the downtown apartment he shared with his longtime girlfriend, Angela Chilton. He and Chilton had an argument, which he characterizes as loud but not overly loud, that prompted Chilton to leave abruptly. Shaw then heard commotion outside from Chilton and police. Thinking he was f*cked for embarrassing his teammates and family (“If she did say anything, I’m a black man with dreadlocks,” he told Plaschke), he took the leap.
Shaw said he jumped from the balcony to a grassy area on Figueroa Street, where he landed on his feet; he was wearing only flip-flops. He said that pain immediately shot up from his ankles to his knees, and he was certain he had broken both legs.
He said he crawled up Figueroa to Sunset, where he called his brother Justin for help. Josh was taken to Justin’s San Fernando Valley home, where his brother carried him upstairs on his back. Josh said he didn’t go to the hospital because he didn’t know how he could tell USC about what were seemingly season-ending injuries.
He said he crawled up Figueroa to Sunset, where he called his brother Justin for help. Josh was taken to Justin’s San Fernando Valley home, where his brother carried him upstairs on his back. Josh said he didn’t go to the hospital because he didn’t know how he could tell USC about what were seemingly season-ending injuries.
Shaw then admitted how he settled on the specific initial lie in order to tell the university:
Shaw said he came up with a story he had injured himself attempting to save his 7-year old nephew from drowning in an apartment pool at a family function in Palmdale. He thought it was an airtight story.
“I didn’t think it could be proved that story was not true,” he said. “My sister [Asia] was having a party … my cousin does have a balcony over his pool…. It involved only myself, my sister, two or three little kids, and my cousin.”
Shaw said he was confident the story would sail, and so Sunday morning he relayed it to USC officials, who ordered him to visit the hospital for X-rays. When he found out his legs weren’t broken, he said he began regretting his plan. He said if he had known he only had high ankle sprains, he never would have gone to great lengths to hide it.
Head coach Steve Sarkisian has since reinstated Shaw to the team, and doctors have cleared him to play, but an ongoing investigation by the school and authorities has prevented Shaw from stepping foot on the field.
