I. LOVE. CHARITY WEIGHTLIFTING COMPETITIONS.
I don't care what kind of accusations of horribleness you want to throw at the Florida State football program, I don't care how awful of a human being Jimbo Fisher might or might not be (he actually seems like a pretty alright dude to me), and frankly I don't care that alleged rapist Jameis Winston might get some small joy out of this event. Weightlifting is hella cool, and really the only way to make it better is to raise a ton of money at the same time.
"I had originally thought about [an FSU chapter] when I first found out about Fanconi anemia and Kidz1stFund, but there was so much going on when I first got there," Haplea said in an interview with ESPN.com. "I was literally sitting around one day after I got hurt in the summer and thought if there's any time to get it started this is it."
Haplea walked into Fisher's office last summer and approached him about an inaugural Lift for Life event to raise money for Fanconi anemia. The offense and defense square off in a series of strongman competitions to help solicit donations from fans. Fisher was floored at Haplea's charity. Often injured players feel isolated from the team, but Haplea volunteering to help Ethan, who Haplea now sees as a younger brother. As of midnight Friday, the event has raised $11,708.
This should be a national thing for two reasons: first, most people have no idea how much football players can actually lift. Numbers like 500 pound squats or deadlifts or whatever seem like completely made up bullcrap to them, so they'll go "yeah, screw it! Five bucks a pound, whatever!"
Secondly, it's essentially an extra workout. Every minute counts one more rep second place first loser no fear.
As an addendum, if anyone wants to bring a barbell and a bench and upwards of 30 extra pounds of plates to our tailgate this year, I'm all in (the joke is that enjoy lifting weights but am still weak, you see).
