Former NFL linebacker David Vobora found a new calling after leaving the NFL for good and that is to train war veterans who need help.
David Vobora, the 252nd and very last pick of the 2008 draft retired from the NFL in 2012 and dealt with shoulder injuries that led to multiple surgeries and an addiction to pain killers.
After rehabilitation, he found a new calling by opening a for-profit gym for elite athletes, including NFL players and Olympic athletes. The gym, Performance Vault, is located in Dallas, Texas near his parent’s home.
Three months after opening the gym, David Vobora noticed a man at a party he was attending. The man was United States Army Staff Sgt. Travis Mills, one of five quadruple amputees from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. While on his third tour in Afghanistan, Mills was struck by an IED.
“He’s on four prosthetics and balancing and walking and moving, and I just walked up to him and I said, ‘When was the last time you worked out?’”
“He looked at me and said, ‘Look, I don’t want you to feel like an idiot because you obviously don’t see I don’t have arms and legs.’ I kind of chuckled and I said, ‘I understand that you were wounded, but now that you’re healed, even though you look different, why can’t you compete? Why can’t we attack some things that scare you?’”
In September 2014, Vobora founded the Adaptive Training Foundation, which is a non-profit foundation that provides free personalized physical training programs for injured veterans and people living with disabilities. Ten individuals take part in the nine week training course where they receive a training regimen for their fitness goals and specific disabilities.
Vobora has a close connection to the military as his grandfather, great grandfather, and his uncle were all Marines.
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