Former Seahawk, ex-Green Beret Nate Boyer urges respect, compromise

A year after writing an open letter to Colin Kaepernick over sitting for the national anthem, former Seahawk and ex-Green Beret Nate Boyer wrote another letter in ESPN asking Americans to begin healing.

But Boyer told KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson he’s getting a lot of hate.

Dori says the reaction only validates what he wrote about.

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“We don’t have conversations anymore, we don’t listen anymore,” Boyer said. “We’re just on our phones spewing hate. That’s what we’ve turned in to.”

Boyer believes our desire to be right and win has gone too far. Picking a side or drawing a line in the sand is hurting the country. And he wants the president and Kaepernick to set an example.  He wrote in ESPN:

Colin Kaepernick and President Trump should be the ones uniting our country together. Wait…what? I know it sounds crazy, but maybe that’s exactly what we need to see. Maybe that’s how we start to heal. Two men sit in a room and talk, simple as that.

As for protests at the beginning of the NFL game, Boyer believes people assume he supports them.  He doesn’t.

“I support our rights,” he said. “I want everyone to stand, but I want them to stand because they feel the same way that I feel about the flag. If they don’t, I’m going to find a way to work together to find a way to help them feel better about it.”

At the very root of the protest, Boyer thinks it’s most recently about protesting the president’s remarks.

Boyer praised players like Doug Baldwin, who is working with law enforcement to try to make a difference. He said other guys are just stepping out to make a statement and not following through with a solution.

“It’s really frustrating to go fight for your country and then come back to a country that hates each other,” Boyer said. “They’re not even concerned about what’s going on overseas.”

Ultimately, Boyer has faith Americans will eventually figure it out.

“We can be a part of fixing this,” Boyer said. “It’s about treating the man (and woman) on your left and right with respect whether you agree with them or not.  That’s what we do in the military. We fight alongside people we don’t necessarily agree with politically. We look different, feel different, but fight for a greater mission. That’s what we need to get back to.”