DAV Bowl gives veterans and athletes more than competition

When Kelly Smith played football in 2015 for the first time since her injury, the experience was transformative.

It was a small moment on a sideline in Tampa, Florida, when someone threw her a ball. But for the medically retired corpsman, who said she lost her left arm as a result of a combat injury in Iraq in 2007, it was the beginning of finding herself again.

“I caught a football and ran a little bit,” Smith said. “I smiled. My husband hadn’t seen me smile in years.

A decade after the catch that began her transformation away from a “very angry” veteran with no purpose, Smith returned to the resurrected version of that flag football game when she joined nearly 40 of her fellow disabled veterans for the 2026 Disabled American Veterans Bowl, which was held just south of San Francisco and coincided with the Super Bowl.

The game featured a squad of veterans—Team Heroes—squaring off against NFL veterans and influencers—Team Legends—and was held to highlight the similar challenges veterans and professional athletes face, including mental health challenges and loss of purpose once the uniform is put away forever.

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Source: DAV News
Website: www.dav.org