Ten years after he helped shape the quarterback’s anthem protest, the former NFL player and Army veteran says he still sees it as an act of patriotism
Nate Boyer was stunned. The former NFL long snapper and United States Army Green Beret had big plans for his MVP (Merging Vets and Players) foundation, an organization that helps veterans and NFL players address the challenges that await once they take the uniform off for good. MVP was all set for a season-long college football activation tour thanks to a five-figure sponsorship from a well-known brand that happens to be one of the NFL’s longstanding partners. Boyer and his team were prepping for their trip to Columbus for Ohio State’s home opener. Everything was ready to go. Thousands in upfront costs had been spent. Then the company pulled out.
“They suddenly stopped replying to emails,” Boyer says. “Finally, on that Thursday, when I was at the airport en route, I called our point person, also a veteran, who begrudgingly told me what was going on.”
It turns out the company’s legal department discovered that Boyer had met with Colin Kaepernick when the former 49ers quarterback began protesting during the national anthem. When Boyer attempted to get a deeper explanation from the company, he was ghosted.
This happened last August, nine years after Kaepernick’s protests.
“I just couldn’t believe that all those years later there were still people upset about something I was such a small part of that had nothing but intentions of unity and understanding,” Boyer says.
“What the heck? Why is he protesting the anthem?” That was Boyer’s first reaction when he saw Kaepernick sitting on the bench during a preseason game against the Green Bay Packers in August 2016. For a second, Boyer – who had been part of the Seahawks in 2015 after six years in the military – bought into the initial buzz that Kaepernick was specifically protesting the anthem and disrespecting the American flag.
He was disappointed because, as a former Green Beret, the flag represented to him honor, sacrifice, and freedom. But Boyer also happened to be a lifelong 49ers fan, and Kaepernick was his favorite player at the time.
“He brought us out of a time of mediocrity as far as football goes,” he says. Adding to Boyer’s conflicting feelings was the fact that Kaepernick had donated an inscribed football to Boyer’s MVP foundation with the message, “God Bless Our Troops.” The narrative that Kaepernick was somehow anti-military didn’t really make sense to Boyer.
Then Boyer did something increasingly rare in modern times. He tabled his snap judgment and listened to the full 18-minute interview Kaepernick gave explaining the reasons for his protest.
“He talks about a lot of things, and one of the things he mentioned was that he had a lot of support for people in the military,” Boyer says. “And then he said, ‘I’m not going to stand for the flag of a country that oppresses people of color.’ He just felt that we were not living up to the promises of what the flag was supposed to represent. I didn’t necessarily disagree with that.”
Boyer says he understood Kaepernick’s sentiments when the quarterback said “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses Black people and people of color. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”
And while Boyer acknowledged an anthem protest could hurt his feelings, he was proud to have taken the oath to defend an American’s right to freedom of speech. At the time, Boyer viewed Kaepernick’s act as a chance to have a balanced societal discourse.
“I thought it was potentially a pretty powerful thing and something that could really bring people together,” he says.
Unfortunately, Boyer’s hopes for unity did not come to fruition.
