Content area
Full text
SHEINELLE JONES: On 14 this Veterans Day, we are highlighting one vet who is still serving others.
VICKY NGUYEN: Retired Green Beret Nate Boyer is a bit of renaissance man, veteran former NFL player and now, he has added director to this list.
DYLAN DREYER: And as Craig shows us his proudest role is bringing together two unlikely worlds to find healing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NATE BOYER, VETERAN AND FORMER PROFESSIONAL ATHLETE: I love that opportunity to go serve and I always wanted to be put in the most austere environment.
CRAIG MELVIN, NBC NEWS ANCHOR (voiceover): Retired Green Beret Nate Boyer is drawn to service. Motivated by 9/11, he enlisted in the army in 2005 and was deployed three times to Iraq and Afghanistan in the special forces.
MELVIN (on camera): Why was it so important to you to deploy to Afghanistan?
BOYER: In my mind, maybe I'll give somebody a break that's gone on far more deployments than I have.
MELVIN (voiceover): Between deployments, Nate was making a name for himself as a long snapper for the University of Texas and later, for the Seattle Seahawks when he was discharged.
MELVIN (on camera): You are one of a short list of folks who have worn the military uniform and the uniform of a professional football player. What was the transition like?
BOYER: I'm not going to lie. It was absolutely challenging. Losing that uniform, losing that locker room and that team was tough.
MELVIN (voiceover): Now, Nate is on a new mission. Helping others find their purpose. In 2015, he and sports reporter Jay Glazer created the non- profit organization merging vets and players, or MVP.
BOYER: I had had phone conversations with guys that I served with that were really struggling with moving forward, right, after they lost that camouflage. And Jay was having conversations, the same conversations, honestly, with former football players and MMA fighters.
MELVIN (voiceover): The organization unites combat veterans and former professional athletes to offer support for that transition to civilian life.
[09:25:00]
BOYER: And they were training with us and then, we would hang out on wrestling match afterwards and just -- a very organic, raw, you know, peer- to-peer coaching session. The people were sharing...




