He's the perfect example of how school and sports can coexist and be successful. David Bruton Jr. graduated with a double major in Political Science and Sociology from Notre Dame. He was also a starting safety for the Fighting Irish his junior and senior years and got noticed by NFL scouts. In 2009, he was chosen in the 4th round by the Denver Broncos where he would play for seven years. He became known as an exceptional special teams player and served as special teams captain from 2013-2015. His skills at safety weren’t too shabby either: during his time in Denver, he finished nearly every season with double digits tackles, had five forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and three interceptions.

David was having his best season in 2015, with arguably one of the best Broncos defenses in history, when he broke his fibula during a game in November. He kept playing, thinking it was just a contusion. The next day he was placed on injured reserve. By February of 2016, his fibula was healed, however, since he had been placed on IR, he wasn’t able to play in the Broncos Super Bowl 50 Championship. The next season he signed with Washington, found himself on injured reserve again after his 6th career concussion and retired the following summer.

After retiring, David went back to school and earned a doctorate from CU in Physical Therapy. He now runs his own clinic, Between the Lines Physical Therapy and still is very involved in his non-profit Bruton’s Books.

Hosted by Susie Wargin