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.
“My life changed from catching that football right then and there.”
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.
The DAV Bowl was presented in partnership with Athletes for Care (A4C), which advocates for the health and wellness of athletes. A4C co-founder and CEO Robert Gallery, a former Oakland Raiders and University of Iowa star, said the competition on the field was intense but friendly.
“The two groups have a ton of mutual respect for each other. Our ideals are the same. The same mindset. The same values,” Gallery said. “It’s about being resilient and being leaders and teaching other people to talk about [our struggles].”
B.J. Ganem, a combat-disabled Marine veteran and amputee, has been organizing and participating in the game since 2012. He couldn’t contain his excitement and gratitude for the participants and DAV for bringing the community associated with the game back for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic halted the event.
“This is all of us celebrating what we have left in the tank and that we are all worthwhile,” said Ganem, an alum of DAV Patriot Boot Camp for entrepreneurs whose venture, Ganem Consulting, helped facilitate this year’s DAV Bowl. “We can have some fun as we play America’s game together, with meaning.
“This was possible because we have DAV behind us.”
DAV National Adjutant Barry Jesinoski said the support from Ganem and many others helped bring attention and new avenues of support to the organization around Championship Week and the Super Bowl.
“The DAV Bowl was far more than a game. It’s a powerful reminder of who our veterans are and what they represent,” Jesinoski said. “During one of the biggest weeks in sports, we had the opportunity to elevate their stories, their resilience and their continued commitment to one another. This event wasn’t just memorable; it reinforces that the bonds forged in service and sports don’t end when the uniform comes off.”
In addition to Gallery, former Green Bay Packers running back Ahman Green; Army veteran and “Dancing With the Stars” contestant Noah Galloway; former Army Green Beret, NFL veteran, and founder and CEO of Merging Vets & Players Nate Boyer; Fox Sports analyst and former NFL player Spencer Tillman; former NFL player Chris Draft; and other well-known players participated in or supported the bowl.
Green said that the competition was fun, but it was the stories of the veterans that brought him out to the game.
“That’s why I come out here. Just to hear their stories,” he said. “When they tell me the story about how their injury happened, knowing that it was a lot to get through it and to be here and back on the field, running around and giving 110% … it’s just fantastic.”
Former NFL Vice President of Officiating Mike Pereira, whose charity, Battlefields to Ballfields, helps veterans become referees, provided the crew. Dave DesRochers, an adviser to the NFL Players Association and founder and CEO of the 1st & Goal Project, a charity that helps veterans and others transition and grow, played and supported the effort. Sports media personality Kenny Mayne, founder of Run Freely, a charity that helps make active lifestyles accessible to veterans, played snap quarterback. Dr. Jen Welter, the first woman to coach in the NFL, played after hosting a flag football camp for her charity, Grrridiron Girls.
For Army veteran Samantha Juan, the DAV Bowl provided her with the opportunity to play football for the first time. Only the rules, not physicality, were an issue for Juan, who served in the elite, all-female Cultural Support Teams in Afghanistan.
“The DAV Bowl was more than a game. It was a visible reminder that service doesn’t end when the uniform comes off,” Juan said. “DAV creates spaces where veterans feel seen, supported and connected, and that impact was undeniable on the field.”
Juan’s fellow combat veteran and athlete, Smith, agreed.
“Bringing this game back and doing what DAV is doing, it changes lives,” Smith said. “I know it sounds cliché, but I don’t know where I would be without it. I probably wouldn’t be married. I probably wouldn’t have a relationship with my children and now my grandchild.
“Because I caught a football at one of these games.”
And what about the football that changed her life?
“I still have that football to this day,” she said. “I refuse to give it up.”
