DENVER — A career in the NFL on average lasts just a little over three years – giving the NFL the nickname of "Not For Long.” As a player's NFL career comes to a close, many players choose another area of interest within the sport.
Some players transition into coaching positions or move into the broadcast booth, but David Bruton Jr., who played eight years in the NFL and was part of the 2016 winning Broncos Super Bowl 50 team, had different plans.
He said he was always thinking about the next stage of his career, the one he always dreamed about when he was in middle school.
“[Physical therapy] is just something that’s always been a part of me," Bruton said. "I was that guy in the locker room asking questions. 'Why are we doing this?' Why are we focused on core? It’s my knee.' 'Why are we focused on other body parts?'”
Bruton took his questions and his experience to the Doctor of Physical Therapy Program at the CU School of Medicine.
He spent the next couple of years in class full-time to earn his doctorate. Within the past year, he opened his own clinic, Between the Lines.
“Everything happens between the lines. Football, hockey, lacrosse, soccer, etc.,” Bruton said.
He works primarily with young athletes – men and women who dream of one day pursuing their own professional careers. Bruton sees himself as part doctor, part coach.
He knows PT requires commitment and someone motivating you to push yourself to do better.
Bruton now partners with UCHealth to increase the diversity, equity and inclusion in the PT training program. He’s involved in the scholarship endowment board, hoping to ease some of the financial barriers many students face getting into the program.
Bruton said the profession needs more people like himself. “I feel like I speak in a certain way and at times, I felt like I had to assimilate how I talk to speak a certain type of way to fit in," he said. "I couldn’t necessarily be myself because there wasn’t a lot of people who looked like me or came from the same background.”
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