About This Episode

Nate joins the American Hero Show to share stories from his time as an US Army Green Beret, a football player at Texas – and trying to make it in the NFL and  now in the newest chapter of his career; actor, film producer and TV show host.  Boyer may be best known for his relationship with Colin Kaepernick and how he advised the former NFL star of a better, more respectful way to protest social injustice and still honor our great country than sitting on the bench during the anthem.  Boyer teamed up with NFL Insider Jay Glazer to create the MVP (Merging Vets & Players) Foundation where they are helping former pro athletes and veterans.

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About Our Guest

From vetsandplayers.org:

Nate Boyer is what many would deem a renaissance man.  The former active-duty Green Beret is also a world traveler, a philanthropist and community leader, and a professional athlete as a former member of the Seattle Seahawks.

After joining the US Army in 2005, Boyer earned the coveted Green Beret in December, 2006.  He was stationed in Okinawa throughout most of 2007 with 1st Special Forces Group.  In April of 2008, Nate was deployed with ODA 0324 10th Special Forces Group to Iraq and served his tour of duty until January of 2009.  He then served tours in Afghanistan from April-August, 2013 (Special Operations Joint Task Force-Afghanistan) and from April-August, 2014 (ODA 3116 3rd Special Forces Group).  In addition to his deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, Boyer completed a number of JCET (Joint Command Exchange Training) Missions to Israel (2009), Bulgaria (2011), and Greece (2012).

A five-year player for the Texas Longhorns, Boyer served as the No. 1 long snapper on PAT/FG’s his last three seasons and also handled punt-snapping duties during 2013-14.  He played in 39 career games.  In 2012 Boyer received the Disney Spirit Award at the ESPN College Football Awards, which is given to the most inspirational figure in college football. In 2013 the National Football Foundation awarded him with the coveted Legacy Award. He was named to the 2014 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team, which recognizes players whose charitable involvement and community service contributions stand out among all other student-athletes; was a three-time first-team Academic All-Big 12 choice (2012-14); and was first-team Capitol One Academic All-American in 2013.   Boyer was named 2012-13 Big 12 Sportsperson of the Year and in 2012 became the first-ever recipient of the Armed Forces Merit Award presented by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA).  In January of 2015, he played in the Medal of Honor Bowl in Charleston, SC.

Boyer has embarked on a wealth of colorful adventures and life-changing experiences: he has backpacked solo throughout much of Europe and Central America, worked for a year on a fishing boat in San Diego, gone fly fishing in Kamchatka in Russia, worked as a big brother and mentor for children diagnosed with Autism, and volunteered at Refugee Camps in the Darfur region of Sudan/Chad border. Recently he climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro with a wounded veteran to raise money for clean water wells in Tanzania.

Boyer’s belief that “Anything is Possible” has served him well throughout his life and has made him especially fit to speak about finding one’s passions and living with purpose for other people. Nate’s can-do attitude is contagious and his inspirational story resounds with any audience; students, veterans, businesspersons, athletes and people from all walks of like can take something away from his unique story.

Learn more about Nate at vetsandplayers.org and on Social Media
Episode transcript (generated by AI):

Voice over (Male) (00:00):
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Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (00:06):
People of listening,

Voice over (Male) (00:07):
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Voice over (female) (00:28):
The American Hero Show featuring Travis Mills from generals to grandparents, superheroes to superintendents, heroes come in all shapes and sizes. This is the American Hero show.

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (00:51):
Click of the clock. Tim. We are back. What’s up? You champion. You just rhymed. You know we are taping this on the day before a big day. No, it’s not. It’s just regular everyday day history. No, we’re taping. I’m going to say it out loud. We are taping this on the day before your 36th birthday. That’s true. This is true. This is being taped. I don’t know if you use tape anymore because there’s no tape. That’s right. But then I’ll be 36 and then just older and older every year. Thanks a lot for reminding me. Yeah, you’re welcome, Travis. You don’t look a day over 42. You know, people think I’m in my forties. They do. It’s like the saddest thing when people are like, oh, I thought you were like, you’re in your forties. Oh, maybe because you’re so mature. Yeah, I don’t think so.

(01:29):
I do have my wisdom’s not. Oh, you do. I still have them. That’s why I’m so wise. But it’s not about me right now, Tim. Jesus. It’s not about me. It’s about our wonderful guest over here with a great smile and you guys can’t see him, but boy, he took one of the best showers ever. His hair looks on point. He actually just has hair. That’s enviable. You know what, since this is taped before it’s going to air, you know I’m getting Bosley soon, so in your face taped before I’m getting bosy. But ladies and gentlemen, let’s welcome to the show, the star of the movie. Right. Started. Wrote it and wrote it. Started it acted. He also just might’ve been in the military, did something with, did some other stuff, being star, being a tough guy, and then has a new thing out of Discover he is going to tell us about. But welcome to Shirley and gentlemen, Mr. Nate Board. Nate, how are you today, sir?

Nate Boyer (02:14):
I’m good, Travis. How you doing?

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (02:15):
Still handicapped, but I’m making it. But no, Tim and I are fired up to be here. I’ll tell you what do you go by Nate? The great. Is that what you go by?

Nate Boyer (02:25):
I mean, I don’t go by that, but that’s how my wiki page will be remembered when I pass. You know what I mean? Yeah. Just like the old Kings from centuries ago. It was whatever the great Alexander the Great. Yeah, why not?

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (02:37):
I actually thought I saw in the email that you prefer to be called that is I not?

Nate Boyer (02:42):
No. My email address has a certain mixture of symbols and letters that equal Nate the great sort of

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (02:50):
Yeah, no, I love it. I love it. I was just playing a joke there. I don’t know if you, is that actually pretty good?

Nate Boyer (02:56):
It’s true. Yeah.

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (02:57):
I do tell people that. My business partner at my marina, he took the title president and I told, you know what? He goes, you can be the ceo, EO. I said, I want to be the CEO. I’m the president of everything. Right. My foundation, I’m president of my speakers bureau, whatever group, and I told him I want to be the Kerr. So this morning or last night, I was drinking nice. I was drinking my seltzer beer, er, whatever. I was neutral. They’re very good and healthy. I was drinking that and my glass that my friend Nicole got me and it says Kerr on the back, which means king Emperor ruler, because that’s what I told I wanted to be instead of the CEOs. I want to be the Kerr. But anyways, we’re not ’em here.

Nate Boyer (03:34):
So it encompasses all of those. I thought we were just going to go with Emperor, but I like that. Yeah.

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (03:39):
Well, I thought emperor was just mediocre, but if I can put Kerr, KER for King Emperor ruler, I think that beats out the president any day of the

Nate Boyer (03:48):
Week. Oh, I see. I didn’t even get the acronym there. I love that.

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (03:51):
No, no, you’re doing great. You’re doing great. But here’s the thing, you champion. Here’s the thing, hard-hitting questions. We started off now this season with hard hitting questions. Okay. They might baffle you and don’t worry, but here’s the hard hitting question. Okay. What’s your favorite cut of steak?

Nate Boyer (04:04):
Dude, I like a good rib eye, but I’ll also, I mean, I’ll eat pretty much anything. Love a tomahawk, love a filet.

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (04:11):
Bone in or bone out for the tomahawk.

Nate Boyer (04:13):
I’ll bone in.

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (04:14):
Yeah, I don’t it. Come on, dude. I don’t get it. I have to have him cut it up in the back for me. No hands or whatever, the whole thing. Okay, so undecided. Tomahawk, ribeye, follette, all those. Did you, your hard hitting questions. Just keep getting better. Better. Second. Second. Hard hitting question. Second one. If you had to drink tea, if you were forced to drink tea, what kind? Black or green?

Nate Boyer (04:37):
Green.

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (04:38):
Okay. Okay. I can, yeah. I hate tea. It’s so gross. Ted lasso actually. What about

Nate Boyer (04:45):
A good ginger lemon? You don’t like that?

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (04:47):
No, no. Oh my God. Okay. Alright. So many things to talk about with Nate. So here we go. Okay. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. We’re just losing this up. We’re having fun. It’s what we do. So anyway, so Nate, please give us a little background where you’re from, what made you join the military? I, and then we’re going to get right diving into the serious stuff.

Nate Boyer (05:05):
That is a serious stuff. I was born, I was born in Tennessee, Oak Ridge, Tennessee. My dad was going to veterinary school at the wrong ut, and so that’s where I was from. And when I was really young, when I was, I guess I was probably two years old, we moved to the San Francisco Bay. My mom, she was an engineer and she got into this PhD fellowship program at uc, Berkeley, and she was, I think one of the only, if not the only woman in her field to get this opportunity. So they decided to take it, moved out there. My dad is a race horse veterinarian, and so he started working at Golden Gate Fields, which is a horse racing track there. Right between that whole, I lived in el, we lived in El Cerrito, which is between Berkeley and Richmond. So if you know the East Bay at all, it’s just kind right there across from San Francisco.

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (05:55):
Yeah, I’m in Maine. I’m in Maine, so, okay.

Nate Boyer (05:57):
Yeah. Yeah, it’s right around the corner relative to the universe. It’s super close.

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (06:04):
No, actually, I just had a speaking engagement out in Monterey Bay, so Oh, can road down there. Yeah, but that’s a great place to grow up sounds.

Nate Boyer (06:13):
My dad spent a little time there too, before he had me, he tried to raise oysters. I spent about a year and a half really hard. So he quit and moved on with his life and ended up marrying my mom and having me.

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (06:25):
It sounds like he married up, obviously what everybody does.

Nate Boyer (06:27):
Yeah, he definitely married

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (06:28):
Up. You should see Tim’s wife, you would just look at him and how is that possible? How did that happen?

Nate Boyer (06:32):
Yeah, that’s funny.

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (06:33):
Okay, so you grew up out there, your mom got that fellowship, grew up

Nate Boyer (06:37):
There, and then what? Yeah, and so huge sports fan as a kid when I was little, the 49 ERs dynasty was happening. We won five Super Bowl since the year I was born, and so I grew up around that big San Francisco Giants fan, good big Golden State Warriors fan. Those still are my three teams. And I started playing soccer first when I was, I don’t know, five years old or whatever. And then I started playing baseball, and then I started playing basketball. And when I was about nine, we moved to Colorado and I was so into the baseball and eventually the basketball thing, even when kids started playing football at a young age, it just wasn’t something that I did. I was a late bloomer, I was a little small. I’m still a little small for football anyway, so I didn’t play by the time I got to middle school and I probably could have at any time at least tried.

(07:32):
It was just like, well, if I try and play, I’ll lose my starting spot in baseball, basketball. So I didn’t do it. And as we’ll get to a little later, it was a crazy, it was this weird regret I had for almost 30 years of my life of never playing football. So I had to relinquished that in some way. But yeah, it was all sports all the time. Even when I was little middle school, it was just like, I want to be a pro athlete. That’s what I want to do. Get through high school or get to high school and sort of realize that you’re not that athletic is kind of tough when that’s your dream, that you’re a decent athlete, but you’re not mean. No scholarship offers are in the mail and it just doesn’t look like that’s going to happen. And so when I graduated, I just had no desire to go to college if I wasn’t playing sports, I just didn’t see the point.

(08:26):
So I didn’t go right away. I went down to San Diego, worked on a fishing boat for a little while, started taking some firefighting classes, thought maybe I would do that. I mean, that’s an incredible job. Super honorable. But it was also very grown up and I was 18, 19, didn’t feel like ready for that kind of responsibility. And at that time, I actually had an interest in the film and television world. I was like, well, maybe I’ll do that. I love storytelling. I don’t like my story. I want to tell other people’s stories because I feel like I don’t have one. And I moved up to la, started taking some acting classes, kind of dipping both my feet into that. Sorry, rub it in, rub it in. You said a joke earlier. Nobody gets, nobody gets it.

(09:14):
And then nine 11 happened. I was 20 years old when nine 11 happened, and it was something I just couldn’t even fathom, I guess. I mean, growing up and maybe in a California bubble, not a ton of people joined the military, at least in my circles. And it wasn’t something I ever genuinely considered, but when that happened and a lot of people were signing up, I seriously thought about it. I was like, what am I doing that’s so great? I’m not helping anybody. I’m not contributing to the society in any way. Really, every decision I make through my day pretty much just serves myself. I was working with children with autism at the time, so being a big brother, teaching ’em sports, stuff like that. So at least I had that in my life that felt like, alright, at least I’m doing something positive. But it still didn’t feel like that was going to be what I would do for the rest of my life or something that kind of fulfilled the desire for, I think adventure and for the, I don’t want to say adrenaline because it’s not an adrenaline thing.

(10:22):
It was just like there was something more in the world that I wanted to explore and sort of figure out with myself. And it took me about three years from nine 11 to actually sign up and join the military. But I had gone over to the Darfur in Africa in 2004, and I did some relief work over there for a couple of months and it completely changed my life. It was in the middle of a genocide, kind of a forgotten place a bit from the United States side of things, just because we were in Afghanistan, we were in Iraq, all these things were happening in our world, and it was pretty tragic. Like 300,000 people had been murdered and these militias were going to these villages and burning ’em down, raping the women, killing the men, maiming the children, and then just going on to the next village.

(11:12):
And the refugee camps weren’t being built fast enough. So I went over there to volunteer and I was just like, man, these people, they need this, but they also need somebody to fight for them. And that’s when it was cemented in me, for sure. Alright, I’m going to come back and join the military. When I came back to the States and found out about the 18 X-Ray program, which was you could come in off the street, enlist in the Army, and if you had a high enough ASVAB score, you passed this psych eval, language aptitude test, and a few other exams. You could get this contract that after basic training in Airborne School, you go straight to special forces selection,

(11:54):
Right, if you make it. Exactly. Exactly. And I think from the people that signed up from my basic training class, there was 145 of us in our company that had this 18 X-Ray contract. My entire platoon of 45 people had this 18 X-Ray contract. But I think at the end of it, 11 of us out of the 150 or whatever that had the contract from my basic training class actually finished. So it was a really good recruiting tool for the Army as well. Got a lot of folks in the door, but it was incredible training and yeah, that’s really what drew me in. Finally, when contract, when I heard about that, when I learned about that contract, that’s when I was like, alright, this is me.

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (12:38):
They sold me on Airborne Ranger and I was like, I want that. And then I went and I went to Airborne School and then they were trying to beef up all the airborne units and they’re like, Hey, pick your own unit, blah, blah, blah, blah. And it’s one of my biggest regrets, I guess. Not that I’m regretting how my life turned out with my wife and my kids and everything, but my buddies were like, Hey, we’re going to go to the A second. So 22 of us were like, alright, let’s go. And then 20 of them went to First Brigade and I went to fourth brigade and got split up from my other buddies. So I was just by myself. I was like, well, this is stupid.

Nate Boyer (13:07):
Oh damn. So you were hoping I’ll go as a fraternity

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (13:12):
Pretty much. Well, not knowing the military, and I went in when I turned 19 in basic, I went to college first a semester, but I wasn’t maybe old enough to understand basic training is just one little small part and you are going to all get split up, but these are not your friends for life in a way. Right.

Nate Boyer (13:29):
It’s funny you say that because movies kind of portray it as that way you go to basic with these guys, you go to war with these guys and Yeah, exactly. You’re exactly right. Not even

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (13:38):
Close to how it works. Other guys I had never met before and those are your lifelong friends. I mean, I feel like the ones that base trained for that three months or whatever, it’s like we’re so close and it’s like, nah, we’re just forced to hang out together. But okay, so you go 18, I guess silly to me. I dunno how many deployments or anything like that that you were able to, you went on. I

Nate Boyer (14:00):
Did three total. Went to Iraq once and Afghanistan a couple times. I went overseas maybe three other times on JS setss like training missions with other special forces units in other countries. But those aren’t deployments, in my opinion. Not combat deployments anyway.

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (14:19):
Right. No, I got you. Well, so then you decided just one day you’re like, all right, cool. I’m just going to get out because I have this lifelong drink. Let’s get to that. Let’s get to the meat and potatoes.

Nate Boyer (14:29):
The conversation continues in moments.

Foundations Investment Advisors (14:32):
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Voice over (female) (15:12):
And now the conversation continues with Travis and Tim.

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (15:16):
Yeah, I’m dying to know how you get from leaving the military and winding yourself up on the Seattle Seahawks. Can you fill that? There was a Navy Seal that did the same thing kind of. He wanted to play college football, so he played for Nebraska last

Nate Boyer (15:32):
Year. Oh yeah. Yeah.

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (15:33):
He was Navy Seal.

Nate Boyer (15:35):
He’s a big dude, right?

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (15:36):
Well, he’s a linebacker, I think. I thought.

Nate Boyer (15:38):
Yeah. Yeah, he’s a big, I remember hearing that. I look it up and I was like, that’s a big dude. But I mean, it makes sense. A lot of those seals get a little beefy. Yeah,

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (15:47):
Yeah. In can.

Nate Boyer (15:49):
Yeah.

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (15:49):
Yeah. Seals a bunch of turds. But anyway, okay. So yeah, fill us in on that. Fill us in on, I mean, you have a whole movie and everything. We got to get to promote everything you got going on. You are one interesting fellow. I mean, did DOIs or Corona, whoever it was for most interesting man they call you yet?

Nate Boyer (16:05):
No, no, no calls. That’s all

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (16:06):
Right. They’re getting there. They’re getting there. Not yet. So how do we get from the military, Nate? How do you get from the military into a college football uniform?

Nate Boyer (16:16):
I was actually in Iraq when I made the decision to go to college. Finally, I was 27 and 28. I 27 turned 28 when I was over there. And during football season in the fall was sort of the middle of our deployment. And it was like I had been dating a girl that broke, broke things off, which sucked. That’s never fun. In the middle of a nine 10th month rotation. And so I had that going on. We were super busy. We were training Iraqi SWAT dudes, Iraqi Special Forces guys, and we’re going on missions with them almost every night. And just like you get in that routine and all these things are happening, and I don’t know, I just felt I didn’t have an escape or a release in any way except for football. And I would watch every game I could. It was small.

(17:11):
College teams would be on Armed Forces Network at 5:00 AM and I’m like, I’m watching that game. I don’t care. I’m literally planning any free time I had. I was definitely working out, doing all the 16 hours of work you got to do and sleeping when you can. And then any other openings. I’d sleep on the couch in the man cave team room sometimes just so I could watch football. And that was my security blanket. And I started thinking about it and I was like, man, I’m 28. I’m going to be 29 by the time I get out, reenlistment is up and I’ve got teams dangling a re-enlistment bonus in front of my face. I’m

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (17:54):
Those ain’t small either, especially in Iraq where it’s tax

Nate Boyer (17:56):
Free. You know what it is tax free. But they had just kind of dropped in oh eight. They were bigger before. It wasn’t,

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (18:05):
It wasn’t one 50.

Nate Boyer (18:07):
No, hell no. I would’ve done it. I would’ve done it. No, it wasn’t even close to that. Oh wow. It was a lot smaller at the time. I think you could still do something like that if you’d already been in for a good amount of time. I’d only been in for five years if you’d been in for a good time and that brought you to retirement. If you’re in 14, you re-enlist for six more. You make you get that money. Yeah, okay. It was something like that, but for a while they were crazy. Even if you were just adding on a couple years. I

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (18:36):
Mean, heck, my four year re-enlistment was I think somewhere around like 20 something.

Nate Boyer (18:41):
Yeah, exactly. Well, that was my initial enlistment was 15 or 20, which that was great. But I remember this re-enlistment even that, and it was a couple more years. I don’t know. I never thought I was going to be lifetime military. I never thought I was going to be in the military until I was 23. And so I just said, you know what? If I don’t go to college now, I’m probably never going to go. And it’s fine if I don’t, but I’m already in my late twenties. Just why not? And if I am going to go, one of the main reasons I wanted to go was to try out for the football team. So I start in any free time, free time I’m having, I’m training over there. I’m teaching myself how to backpedal and running routes in the sand. I’m Googling and YouTubing football drills and all this stuff.

(19:31):
And there’s one guy on my team, Brad Keys, who unfortunately passed away in 2012. And Brad was like my best friend on the team. He was kind of my mentor, really. He’d married a single mother who had a child with some pretty severe disabilities. And he didn’t just do that because he’s a charitable person. He obviously loved her and loved Ethan, his son, who would adopt. But I don’t know, just one of those people that you’re just like, what a good freaking person. And of course his life was cut short as it happens often, sadly, with the best of us, I think. But Brad was like the only guy I told. I remember we were sitting around on the rooftop around a fire one night drinking something we weren’t supposed to be drinking. And he was like, Hey dude, if you go do this, man, you got to go to a big school. You can’t be, I hear what you’re saying about plan and maybe try walking on at a smaller school so you can make the team and maybe play. He’s like, but it’s not going to sit with you. Right. I just know who you are. I know the kind of person you are. I’m the same way. You got to go big. So I decided to go to University of Texas, the W ut.

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (20:47):
Oh, I thought you were Oklahoma sooner. That’s crazy. I thought you were a sooner.

Nate Boyer (20:51):
Oh my God. Yeah.

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (20:53):
Come right through the screen. The boomer sooner that you’re

Nate Boyer (20:56):
No, I couldn’t justify living in a town called Norman. I’m good.

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (21:02):
Alright. No, I know you’re not as soon.

Nate Boyer (21:05):
Yeah, exactly. It’s good. I value my teeth. So it’s just different d Different way.

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (21:09):
Yeah, different.

Nate Boyer (21:10):
Yeah, it’s different way of

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (21:11):
Living. I’m a Michigan guy. I’m originally from Michigan, so I was 18. So Ohio State’s not keen on Ohio.

Nate Boyer (21:20):
I feel you. Dude, go blue. I’m with that.

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (21:22):
I’m with that. Alright, so you go to ut, what happens?

Nate Boyer (21:25):
So I go to ut. I literally go to, before I even got into school, I went down there and visited. I’d only been to Austin once. It was awesome. Beautiful town, had a good time, went out and partied, but it was for one night and I was like, wow, that’s a cool place, but I need to actually see what this is like. So I go out there, I go to the admissions office, talk to some of them, let ’em know I’m trying to get in. Here’s community college classes, I’ve been taking grades, all that stuff. And then I go to football practice and I just sort of walk into practice. It was outside, but the gate was open and I just kind of walked in there and I mean, alright, I’ll be honest, I was wearing my dress blues because I figured if I’m wearing dress blues, people are just going to let me walk in places.

(22:14):
So I had the dress blues going. I had a meeting with the dean earlier that day too. I’m just trying to impress everybody. So I walk out there and the strength coach comes up and we start talking and I told him, Hey, I want to come here in the spring and try out for the team. And he was just like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, we’ll get you set up. You just send in tape of you playing from high school and we’ll get your high school coach to send in a letter of recommendation because we don’t just let anybody try out. And I was like, oh, yeah, yeah, it’s been a while and yeah, I don’t even know who the coach is there now and blah, blah. I kind of just started rambling. And he was just like, oh yeah, that makes sense. You know what?

(22:56):
Don’t even worry. I got you covered. Don’t even worry about it. I’ll get you a tryout, man. I’ll get you a try. I was like, all right, I appreciate that, coach. So I come back in the spring when I got into school and I went out there and I mean, I didn’t know what I was doing. I remember being in the locker room watching the other, the kids, college kids, young men put their pads on first because I didn’t even know how to do it. I was like, I didn’t know you had to put the jersey on the pads and then you put your pads on because the jersey is so tight, you can’t just put it over pads, if that makes sense. So I had to watch that because I’d never seen it before. And I go out there, I’m just getting trucked left right, but I am going a hundred miles an hour on every drill.

(23:36):
That’s the only way I really knew. And I definitely wasn’t super fast or anything like that, but it was just the effort. And I had a good endurance from the military because that’s an endurance sport being in the military. So they were like, Hey, you know what? He’d be good for the scout team. He’s got a cool story, be good for the locker room. The kid’s never going to play, but we will make him an honorary captain for the Veterans Day game and all that fun stuff. So that first year I dressed for home games. I wasn’t on the travel squad, I was on the scout team every practice. And at the end of that season I was like, I got to find a way on the field somehow. And I noticed that the starting long snapper and his backup were both seniors and the guys. They’d recruited some people to come in and do it, and they had some other guys on the team that also were snappers. But I was like, you know what? Why don’t I just try that? Why don’t I just start messing around with that? See what happens. I used to pitch in high school, I got a decent arm. Maybe that translates to snapping a football between your legs 15 yards, I don’t know.

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (24:43):
Sounds about right. Yeah, I get the logic. It sounds about right. I get the logic.

Nate Boyer (24:46):
Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And it was just a lack of athletic ability that led me to this special teams world where it’s like, I mean, there’s not that many jobs and lack of size too. I mean, I’m five 10. At the time when I was in the military, I was 160 pounds. So when I got to Texas, I got a little bigger, but I was 180 5, maybe still pretty small for college football. So I started long snapping. Same thing when I was in Iraq, just practicing every day and I’d reenlisted in the Texas National Guard. So I was back on a special forces team through the Guard. And that summer I went overseas. And when I went overseas, right before I left, I go into Mac Brown’s office. He was the head coach at the time. And I said, coach, I want to come back in the fall.

(25:37):
I’m going to go overseas for about three months when I come back for training camp, I’ve been promised that they get me back in time for training camp. When I come back, I’d love the opportunity to try out for the long snapping position. And he was like, well, Nate, have you ever long snapped before? And I was like, coach, I never played football before I got here. And he was like, are you serious? I’m like, yeah. I’m like, I appreciate everything you’ve offered and this opportunity to be a part of this team, but I want to try and play. I just love to try out for it. Obviously the best man, the best of the job’s going to win the role. You’re not going to put somebody out there that’s a liability just because they’re in the military or something. But I would just love a shot to trial for it. And he was like, yeah, of course. He’s like, be safe. Get back to us in one piece and we will get you out there and try out for it. So that’s where I messed up.

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (26:31):
That’s where I came back in five pieces, five pieces.

Nate Boyer (26:36):
As soon as I said that, I was like, God,

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (26:38):
We do it all the time,

Nate Boyer (26:39):
Nate, as soon as I said that, I’m like, wow, Nate is

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (26:42):
Just, every day we do the same thing and he jumps right on top of

Nate Boyer (26:45):
It, just the most incense. Oh, does he like a grenade all

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (26:49):
The time? No. Or a bomb, but either way. So alright, so he says, get back in one piece, you come back, oh man. And then you tried out, no, you turned really red there. Don’t worry about,

Nate Boyer (26:59):
I’m super red rather than this.

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (27:03):
I do it for a living. Don’t worry. Make people feel awkward. It’s my thing.

Nate Boyer (27:07):
Well, I feel super awkward.

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (27:08):
Alright, so you must have come back.

Nate Boyer (27:10):
Alright, so I have no idea where I was. Oh yeah, yeah. So I go overseas. I brought a couple of footballs with me and just practice. I built a target out of plywood if we weren’t out on missions doing all that stuff. Same kind of thing as when I was in Iraq. I was just snapping footballs into a plywood target and practicing my blocking drills and all that stuff. I get back from overseas, literally got flown back the day before training camp, which was pretty cool. And I go out there to practice and there’s like 10 long snappers essentially that are trying to vie for this starting spot. And by the end of training camp, I was the backup. So I was on the travel squad, I was the number two guy. They had recruited this kid. He was the number six ranked snapper in the country or something.

(28:00):
I don’t know who ranks these things, but I mean he was good. And he was over six foot and probably 235 pounds or something. How long snappers usually look and first game of the season, he’s doing fine on the punt snaps. But he had some trouble on some of the short snaps for field goals. So the second game, I got the opportunity to start as the field goal, an extra point snapper, which is funny, the little guy, it’s like 320 pound line stack next to me and I’m getting thrown out of the bar every time I snap it.

(28:37):
So I did that for the rest of that year. And then my junior and senior year, I got the starting punt snap position, punt snapping job as well. So I started for 39 straight games in college. And happy to say not all my snaps were perfect, but I never had a bad snap. And that sort of helped me. I got invited to play in the senior all-star game that was played in Charleston, South Carolina. It was called the Medal of Honorable, the Medal of Honor Society hosted the game, which was really cool. So we played at the Citadel and I go down there and there’s NFL Scouts and GMs and coaches there at the practices evaluating talent. And I just had turned 34 at the time, so I was pretty sure this was my last football game. I’m not going anywhere from here. I’m small, I’m new to the sport and I’m the oldest guy by 10 years out there. But sure enough, I had four teams sit down with me and interview me and talk to me about if I was considering the next level. And I would love to, it’s been a dream of mine since I was a baby, but are you serious? Are you fucking with me? Excuse my language, are you messing with me?

(29:47):
And they were like, no, I mean, you got to put some weight on, but you should go for it. So dude, I came back out to Los Angeles, finished my master’s degree. I did an internship with Peter Berg, Peterburg filmmaker who did Lone Survivor and Friday Night Lights, because I knew I wanted to get back and work in the film and TV world. So I did my internship to finish my master’s and I started training with Jay Glazer at his gym in Hollywood called Unbreakable Performance Center. And I put on 30 pounds in four months, and it wasn’t all good weight, but I got up all the way up to, it was I think like 2 25 and the draft rolls around. I knew I wasn’t going to get drafted, but I was hoping to just get a rookie mini camp invite or something. And the Seahawks and the Seattle Seahawks and the St.

(30:34):
Louis Rams both called and offered me to sign as an undrafted free agent, which means even after rookie mini camp, I’d be a part of the team at least until they’d make cuts in the preseason in training camp. So I signed and was with the team through the entire off season. I signed with the Seahawks because Brad’s voice was in my head at that point. This is 2015. At that point, he’d already passed and it was like the Seahawks had been to back-to-back Super Bowls. They had this team with Russell Wilson and Richard Sherman and Bobby Wagner and Cam Chancellor and Jimmy Graham and Marshawn Lynch, and I just couldn’t turn that down. The St. Louis Rams were like four and 12 and in St. Louis, no offense, maybe

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (31:18):
They needed a long snapper though.

Nate Boyer (31:20):
Yeah, I would’ve had a better shot. I mean, to be honest, no,

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (31:23):
That’s not true. It is what it’s, that’s not true. Russell Wilson was throwing touchdowns and Lynch was running them. They didn’t do a lot of punts and field goals stuff,

Nate Boyer (31:31):
But also the snapper, well, I won’t say anything. I think it was a little bit tougher go with the situation. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. I made my decision because I knew it would bother me if I didn’t take that opportunity to go to Seattle. I mean, that was kind of the IT team at the time. And so I did it. I went up there and I got to play in one preseason game before getting cut, and I had a great game. It was really nothing with my performance. It’s a numbers game. Every week through the preseason, they’re slashing, slashing down, and at some point it doesn’t make sense to have two long snappers in the NFL. It just doesn’t work like that. There’s 53 guys on the roster. So my number came up, but the one game that I played in, it was incredible. I played the entire second half.

(32:16):
I actually did really well. And before the game, I was asked by the equipment manager if I wanted to lead the team out of the tunnel with the America flag. And that was a really cool honor. I got to do it in college for pretty much every game unless I was a captain at midfield doing the coin flip. I was leading the team out of the tunnel with the flag for all the Longhorn games. And then we get to the sideline, I can already feel myself getting kind of emotional. This is just a lifelong dream. And it was just such a cool moment. I’m in the Seahawk stadium, it’s packed, it’s raining, but the sun’s out. It’s just one of those moments. And then they start playing the national anthem at the time, at least in college, and I think it’s still that way, you’re not on the field when the Anthem plays.

(33:04):
You’re still in the locker room. But in the NFL, as everybody knows now, the players are on the field during the anthem. So they started playing, and I’m scrambling to find the tallest flag in the building, so I’m only like an idiot. And then I’m like, what do I salute? What do I, that’s not right. So I put my hand in my heart and the song starts playing and I started freaking bawling. I was thinking about Brad, I was thinking about people that were still overseas doing what they’re doing. I was thinking about the people that came home. I think this is what really got me. I was thinking about the people that came home and didn’t feel the sort of hope and drive that I felt. That kind of felt hopeless in a sense. And like, oh, I’ve peaked and I’ll never be great again. And I don’t have a team anymore. And I had this and I had this sense of purpose after the military. And I don’t know, all these things were happening and I just started crying. I get done. And all those players I just mentioned came up to me and hugged me. And it was a really cool moment. It’s almost like they knew I was getting cut in three days, but no, but it was awesome. It was kind of the peak of that whole journey. It at least the football journey. But yeah, it was special.

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (34:19):
And then, I mean, it’s a truly incredible

Voice over (female) (34:21):
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Voice over (female) (35:06):
And now the conversation continues with Travis. And Tim,

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (35:11):
You talking about the flag in putting your hand over your heart. You happen to be there at a time, or at least close to a time when Colin Kaepernick was doing his thing and trying to draw attention to something he felt very passionate about. And I think you made waves but made positive waves when you a little bit called them out and had a conversation with him. Can you walk through the Kaepernick conversation that you had with him and maybe help bridge the gap between two opposing opinion points?

Nate Boyer (35:47):
Yeah, I mean, that moment was the most important moment of my time in Seattle anyway, especially looking back on it, A year afterwards when Colin had started his protest and he was a 49 er. I was a huge 49 ER fan. I was also a huge Kaepernick fan because when he got to the team, we went from being very average to going to the Super Bowl and almost winning it. We should have won it. I dunno why we bootlegged four plays in a way in a row with Frank Gore in the backfield and Cap.

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (36:25):
I lost some money on that game. Just

Nate Boyer (36:26):
Zone, zone Reed, what are you doing? Anyway? And that was Harbaugh, Michigan guy. Whoops. It’s all good. It’s all good. It’s all good. I’m not

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (36:35):
There. I like John better anyway.

Nate Boyer (36:36):
Yeah. Oh boy. Well, he beat Jim that game. That was the battle brother.

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (36:41):
I know. I don’t hang out with losers president, company included, right? Travis? I’m the only loser in the room. I lost Mark.

Nate Boyer (36:51):
No, no, I got cut. You’re fine. I lost.

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (36:59):
I got cut too.

Nate Boyer (37:00):
Oh

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (37:01):
God. You just can’t say anything, Nate. You can’t say a word. Anyway. All right. Sorry. Sorry.

Nate Boyer (37:08):
No, no, don’t apologize.

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (37:10):
Well, it wasn’t my fault they put it in the ground. I didn’t even see it coming. Just walked into their retirement. Okay. Will you let him finish this story, please? I’m letting

Nate Boyer (37:18):
And rolled out of it

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (37:21):
No more. Just went right down on my head.

Nate Boyer (37:25):
Oh my gosh. Okay. Alright. All right, man.

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (37:29):
You said looking back after the year, this most important thing. You’re a huge Kaepernick fan. I was listening.

Nate Boyer (37:34):
Yeah, it was. I mean, so I think a lot of people confuse, at least with me, they thought like, oh, you were pissed off. You were angry. I was like, ah, not really that when I saw him sitting during the anthem, it was before I listened to why he was doing it or read up on it or anything. I kind of heard through the Twitter sphere and word of mouth. People were like, oh, this MF is hates America and hates the troops, or whatever. And I’m just like, I don’t know. But of course it affected me kind of hearing that. And I’m just thinking about, for me, I carried my best friend. I carried Brad’s casket. I was a Paul bearer in the funeral on a striped in an American flag and seeing his wife handed that folded flag. And when I hear the anthem like I did on that game, I’m often stirred to emotion.

(38:31):
And it’s because of my experience. So it’s because of my connection to it and what I did. Not that people that weren’t in the military don’t have the connection to those symbols as well. Some of them do. But that’s where my emotional investment, I guess came from, was my time in the military. I remember getting the Sears school ending and the flag being raised and the anthem plan, and it’s just like, I mean that was incredibly emotional for me at that time too. And it was just like those kinds of things stick with me. It’s just something that it means a lot and it means to a lot of us who served and a lot of us who didn’t. So seeing that was tough to just sort of be like, well, he’s got his own experience and own story. It’s hard for us to let go of that stuff sometimes.

(39:25):
So I was getting reached out to from CNN Fox News, every cable news network, no matter how they skewed politically, like, Hey, come on our show and talk about it. And I’m sure they wanted me to go in there and debate with somebody about why he’s right or why he’s wrong. And it’s not really going to change anything. We’re just going to talk and cut to commercial, sell some prescription something. So it’s like I just didn’t really want to be a part of that. So the NFL network had been reaching out and asking me to come on, and I was maybe considering that. And then the Army Times, the Army Times was like, Hey, you can write an op-Ed, you can write an open letter, whatever you want to do, we won’t edit it. You get the final say, just write something, please. And I was like, alright.

(40:13):
So I wrote this open letter and I just kind of explained my story, what we just talked about now, where I came from, why I care about these things, what led me to the military, which was that trip to the Dar fur and the motto in the Special Forces, the Army Special Forces is de oppress libert. It means to free the oppressed. That was something that really spoke to me, and that’s something that really mattered to me. And oppression obviously comes in different waves and forms and levels. And it’s not like our country has a perfect history. We’ve done a lot of messed up stuff over the years and it’s still not perfect. We still got a long way to go. So I understood all that, but I also, in context and in perspective to a lot of places that I’ve been, I was like, it’s certainly not perfect here.

(41:00):
We still have a lot of work to do and we should do this work together. But it is a lot better than a lot of places. We have a lot more opportunity here. We have a lot more freedoms. And a lot of that is because of the men and women that gave their lives for this. They don’t have that sort of national pride in a lot of places that would do that. And we have that here. And like I said, this is no utopia, but I wouldn’t live anywhere else. I love this place, but I want to to try to make it better. So I don’t

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (41:34):
Know, have you ever been to all inclusive resort in Mexico? I’ll tell

Nate Boyer (41:39):
You what. Yeah, that’s true. That’s basically America though, behind a fence.

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (41:45):
I’m just saying.

Nate Boyer (41:46):
No,

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (41:47):
You got the buffet tequila all day. Oh my God. All you think about is food. Yes, unreal. This is true. This true, this is true. Obviously

Nate Boyer (41:54):
Eats tequila. Yeah,

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (41:56):
That’s right.

Nate Boyer (41:59):
So I wrote this letter, he reached out and he was like, I want to meet, I want to talk about this in person. And I was a little concerned at first it was going to be like a publicity stone or something. Is media going to be there? What’s this conversation look like? And it wasn’t like that at all. He just wanted to sit down him and Eric Reed, who was playing with them. So we met in the lobby of the team hotel down in San Diego before they were playing the Chargers in their final preseason game. He’d already sat on the bench for two games, I think he was already all over the news. And we just talked about my experience, his experience. And it was honestly a very positive conversation. It was not even that serious. I felt like we were laughing a lot. It’s kind of like this podcast in some ways.

(42:41):
We’re talking about some serious stuff, but it’s like we’re just talking too, just like guys in a locker room. And at the end of the conversation, he asked me, do you think there’s another way I can protest and won’t offend people in the military? And I said, well, no matter what you do, some people are going to be offended. But I think sitting on the bench, like isolated by yourself isn’t the most inspiring thing. So if I would consider being alongside your teammates, at least in some way, and he agreed, but he said, well, I’ve committed to not standing until things start to change. Because what he was really protesting about was social injustice, racial inequality, police brutality, law enforcement officers not being held accountable when they shoot somebody that’s unarmed. That was what he was protesting. And I understood that. I don’t want to get into the details of all that because it’s a complicated issue and there’s a lot to it. But if that’s what he’s trying to actually fix, I have no problem with that.

(43:48):
Any cop that I know, they don’t want those people on the force that don’t know how to handle their stuff and aren’t well trained enough and are making these decisions and doing the wrong thing. It’s tough. It’s tough to be cop. It’s tough to be in. The military, doesn’t pay very well. There’s a lot to that as well from that side. So I just said, look, if you’re not going to stand, I think taking a knee would make more sense to me. It’s respectful. You’re alongside your teammates. At least I think it’s better than sitting on the bench. To me, it’s a little more of a sign of respect and reverence. And so he agreed. I said, Hey, look, people take a need to pray and propose to their future. And when I go to Arlington to visit Brad, I’d take a knee in front of his grave out of respect.

(44:36):
And he thought it was more powerful as well. And so he took a knee that night, half the stadium booed, and nothing really got better. All hell broke loose from there. And then I was all of a sudden a part of this conversation too, which I had no problem doing and being, I’ve kind of said the same thing over and over about it because I remember it fairly clearly. And this is, it is what it is. And not everything that Colin Kaepernick said and done since then, I agree with or stand by. But I should, at least in my opinion, be willing to listen to somebody with a different viewpoint, different experience and perspective. And we can have a positive conversation. And sometimes we can maybe find some middle ground and figure out a way to kind of move the conversation forward, at least for others that are willing to listen from, I guess opposing side.

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (45:27):
I did hear that if the Cowboys wouldn’t have been a good team that year, that the NFL would’ve almost had to fold because people just weren’t turning in. They were so angry. Really, I don’t think. Yeah. Yeah, that’s what I heard. I don’t, yeah, Jerry Jones told me that. No, I’m just kidding. Told him straight up. No, I’m just kidding. But hey, I tell you what, so Nate, I’m sorry. I’m supposed to be serious, but I don’t, he can’t. As we’re doing our wrap up here, I mean, you have a new movie out that you wrote, acted, directed, picked out all the uniforms and the costumes. You did the makeup. I heard. No, I’m just kidding. We

Nate Boyer (45:58):
Had no money. You’re actually right. Pretty much. Pretty much.

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (46:02):
No, no.

Nate Boyer (46:04):
If I didn’t have to pay the writer, director, producer, actor, the UPM, the guy finding the locations, if I don’t have to pay that person, you can make a pretty cheap movie. That looks pretty damn good. There you go. I saved there, but well tell us title. I appreciate that. The movie,

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (46:20):
Tell us the title, the movie called, I got to do the interview here, sir. I’ll tell you what. You got to tell me the name, where I can find it, and the premise you Champion. Okay.

Nate Boyer (46:32):
The movie’s called MVP, which stands for Merging Vets and Players, not for most valuable player. MVP is based on an organization that I co-founded with Jay Glazer later. So merging vets and players. We bring together combat vets and former professional athletes, and we help ’em find purpose and identity when the uniform comes off. In the movie, it’s about a Marine who was living in a homeless shelter and NFL player first year out of the league. They both live in Hollywood, very different parts of Hollywood, and they meet each other and while on paper they have nothing in common, they’re going through the exact same issues with losing that uniform and trying to figure out who they are. They’re still in their early thirties. They got a lot of life left to live, but feel like they sort peaked and they’ll never be great again. And it’s a tough thing.

(47:22):
So the movies, first of all, it’s based on True Stories. It’s really how we started MVP, how it all began, the organization. But all the veterans portrayed on screen are played by actual vets. Sylvester Stallone came on board with Bob Ball Productions, and the executive produced it. Wiz Khalifa gave us a song. And then you’ve got Randy Couture and Tony Gonzalez and Michael Strahan, Howie Long, Jay Glazer, Tom Arnold has a cameo in it. All these people came together to help us make this thing. The NFL came on board and they let us shoot it at NFL Network in the sound stages and stuff for some of the fantasy football scenes. And then the other actors, Christina Ochoa and Mom McCrae, who plays the other lead, and Dina Shiha and so many others, man, they were just awesome. Everybody just gave and gave and gave, because when I say no money in movie money, we had no freaking money. This is a shoestring. And we figured it out. And we had a theatrical release, and then it was on Amazon Prime and Apple tv, you could rent it. And now, just recently, Showtime licensed the movie. So if you have a Showtime or any Showtime package on your streamers, you can watch MVP. So I encourage everybody

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (48:32):
To, you can also sign up for the first free week and then just delete it. I did that for fubu. You signed up for FUBU one time just to watch Michigan Game.

Nate Boyer (48:39):
You, it’s, first of all, it’s fubu. FUBU is the clothing fubu. That’s

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (48:44):
Correct. Fuo, that ends in the, no, he has a hard time with the English language sometimes. I don’t know if you’ve noticed that. Mostly. So you can check it out on Showtime now, and it’s a great story that you developed and then you got the foundation that’s actually doing very well. And then,

Nate Boyer (48:59):
Yeah, vets and Players. Vets and players.org is the website for emerging vets and players

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (49:04):
Organizations, which I’ve heard great things about Dave Ra. Yeah, Dave Abor told me about. So that’s great things. So vets and players.org, it’s also

Nate Boyer (49:10):
Got these been amazing.

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (49:12):
The next project, tell us about the next project on Discovery. It’s

Nate Boyer (49:15):
Called Survive the Raft. It’ll be on Discovery Channel and HBO Max. It’s essentially very much like Survivor. I’m the host of it. It’s nine people on this raft floating around the Pearl Islands in Panama. And they have all these challenges they have to conduct as a team throughout, but they’re from all different walks of life. And it’s based on a social experiment from 50 years ago where this anthropologist floated from the Canary Islands in Spain to Mexico, 101 days with these 10 people on a raft who have from all different demographics and to see if they could survive this trip and work together regardless of their differences. So we sort of recreated it 50 years later and it’s fun. It’s fun. I’m excited for that one. So survived the raft.

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (50:02):
Yeah, that sounds about as fun as camping to me. I found that Nate Boyer is very boring. It’s a cruise ship. He’s very boring. Have you noticed that? Yeah. I Nate’s just very lazy and I’ve been just sitting here, I’ve been sitting here just watching everything he’s doing, trying to figure out how to pick up his mannerisms. I mean, that dude’s an actor. That dude’s a writer. He floats on a big old raft with people that he doesn’t know, which, lemme tell you something, I wouldn’t even do that. The people talk about going camping and how it’s fun. I’m like, is it called a Marriott? Because if it’s not, then I’m out. But it’s not all inclusive. Travis. This doesn’t want to. Oh, I’ll tell you. But anyways. Alright, so hey Nate. Thank you so much for your time. We appreciate you coming on. Hope Tim and I have entertained you as much as you’ve entertained us. Oh, you guys are great. We can’t wait to get your stuff out there and tell everybody. And yeah, just thanks for taking the time with us in this opportunity to talk with you. The great Nate or Nate? The great Nate.

Nate Boyer (50:55):
Either one. No, I appreciate it, Travis. Thank you guys so much. Yeah, shout out to dv. As you mentioned, out in Dallas at Adaptive Training Foundation, they host MVP, our MVP chapter in Dallas. And so he’s been amazing. And anyway, but love you brother. Great to meet you too, Tim. Yep, you too, Nate. Thank you guys for doing this and yeah,

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (51:17):
Good. Keep up the good work, man. We appreciate you. I

Nate Boyer (51:19):
Don’t know, I’m not ending this thing. You guys are?

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (51:22):
Yeah,

Voice over (female) (51:24):
This is the American Hero show.

Travis Mills and Tim Eisenhart (51:29):
Well, I’ll tell you what, Tim, that was interesting for sure. Yep. Loved it. Nate’s a great guy. I like the fact he’s not used to my jokes. The best part of that interview was when you got him turning red. Yeah, I think he was actually a shade of purple. Yes, but no, great guy. I’m telling you what, it’s really impressive that he just had that purpose and drive that direction and he went for it. Yeah. The fact that he was thinking about this stuff years before he knew what he wanted to play professional sports and he wasn’t going to let anybody stop him, but never played football before. No. And then just he was in the desert doing drills and learning how to run backwards. I mean, just messing with ISIS on daytime or nighttime, then daytime, just running drills in the sand, running drills, football and isis.

(52:10):
But then you know exactly not what Maryland does because they do crab cakes in football if you watch Wedding Crashers. But I’ll tell you what, to all the peoples listening, I hope you guys enjoyed that. Thank you so much for tuning in to Tim and I on the American Hero Show. Tim hit ’em with where they can find it at the american hero show.com. What? Anyways, you guys have a great day. Again, thanks for tuning in and like listen, share, follow, tell your friends, and if you don’t, my mom, Sherry Mills will get after you, boy, and you don’t want that. Have a great day.

Voice over (female) (52:39):
Four more on how you can help our country’s heroes. Go to American Hero show.com.