National Football League

Vobora wins lawsuit against supplement

Published Jun. 20, 2011 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

A Florida nutritional supplement company was ordered to pay St. Louis Rams linebacker David Vobora more than $5.4 million over a contaminated product that led to his four-game NFL suspension, the player's legal team said Monday.

A federal judge ruled Friday that S.W.A.T.S intentionally misrepresented its "Ultimate Sports Spray," which Vobora was led to believe was clean before he tested positive for the banned substance methyltestosterone and was suspended in September 2009.

The company was told to pay Vobora $2 million for damage done to his reputation, $3.04 million for loss of future income and a combined $360,588 for the loss of marketing endorsements, performance bonuses and game checks, according to court documents published on Leagle.com.

"This monumental judgment cleared my family's name," said Vobora, who became the NFL draft's first "Mr. Irrelevant" to establish himself as a starter in 14 years after he was taken by the Rams in 2008.

"We stuck together through threats, ridicule, and unfair stigma," he said in a statement released by PR Newswire.com. "Finally vindicated, I'm relieved that I can refocus on football and help the St. Louis Rams get back to the playoffs when the lockout ends. I'm grateful the Rams organization believed in my character through this trying process."