Alex's powerful story of recovery and determination will leave yOO inspired and feeling better.
HIS DRIVE
Alex Smith is a retired professional football quarterback who played for 16 seasons. An All-American in college and 3-time Pro Bowl player, his awards and accolades are too many to list. He’s incredibly dedicated to his family and also founded the Alex Smith Foundation and Alex Smith Guardian Scholars Program, which helps to send teens in foster homes to college. Alex’s focus on what’s important never wavered as he faced an injury beyond comprehension.
CAN'T STOP, WON'T STOP mOOving
In November 2018, Alex Smith suffered a spiral fracture of his leg. He was tackled on the football field playing quarterback for the Washington Football Team. What followed was an intense effort to not only save his leg, but save his life as a bacterial infection threatened amputation…or worse. Undergoing surgeries, tissue reconstruction and other medical treatments, there was question if he’d walk again. No one expected him to return to the football field. “To have spent so long in a hospital bed, wheelchair bound, with a metal frame on my leg for so long. My thoughts were consumed with all these things I would never be able to do again.”
Alex traveled to the Center for the Intrepid for treatment, a military rehabilitation clinic in San Antonio, TX. It was there that OOFOS began to play an impactful role in his recovery. Pushing himself every day to get incrementally better, he was constantly sore. “As soon as I got back to the house, it was like part of the process: putting on a pair of OOFOS and how good it felt for the rest of the day. Knowing you’re on your feet that much throughout the day, how good I felt, and then getting up and doing it again the next day.”
In August 2020, a viral video surfaced of Alex’s family celebrating a historic achievement: he had just been named to the Washington Football Team’s active 53-athlete roster. He was cleared to play again, and one step closer to stepping back on the field. Having just returned from PT, OOFOS were on his feet . Alex would go on to return to the field for his first game two months later and eventually lead the team to a playoff berth. The accomplishment earned him the NFL’s 2020 Comeback Player of the Year.
FINDING OOfoam
Alex Smith discovered OOFOS 7 years ago in Hawaii while vacationing. A friend living on the Island introduced him to them and, having suffered from back tightness going back to his college days, he instantly knew they were a game-changer for his recovery. “I remember the first time I put on a pair of OOFOS and it was honestly like someone released the pressure in my back. It was crazy!” He immediately made them a go-to tool for his day-to-day recovery as part of an active lifestyle. Between off-season workouts, like running underwater with boulders, and active days riding bikes, hiking and adventuring with his family, Alex always had a pair of OOFOS waiting for him at home. “The more I was doing, the more I wore them.” 
Living OOsoul
Alex retired from professional football after the 2020 season, but has not slowed down. “I still push myself physically every single day on what I can go do. And the harder I push myself, the more I find myself drawn to wearing OOFOS. And I know what it's meant for me pre-injury and certainly even more since. Recovery and mobility has taken on a new role in Alex’s life, one that helps him feel better and live fulfilled - to be present for his family and active in his daily life. “I find myself saying “yes” to so many more things in life, because I want to make the most of it while I have it. You know, to wrestle with my kids, to go out to the driveway and chase them around, to be that grateful for every single day. Having the ability to go do these things that I never thought possible that I thought I had lost forever is so amazing.”
mOOving FOR LIFE
OOFOS looks forward to working with Alex to help more people feel better by implementing OOFOS into their training, rehabilitation and recovery routines across sport & military – inspiring those going through a tough time to see what else they can do.
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