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Hello world, this is Just Being Intentional.

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I am Thomas Harris, the host.

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Thank you for checking in with us.

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You got a million other podcasts you can be listening to right now, but here you are with

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us.

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So we greatly appreciate it.

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If you can do me a favor, just go ahead and like, subscribe, follow, whatever you need

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to do, just keep tabs on what we're doing here.

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We just want to keep this thing going.

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So we appreciate your support.

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Give me, introduce my guest for today's show.

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He is a former Green Beret in the US Army.

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He is also a former football player.

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He is the co-founder of Merging Vets and Players, and he's also an actor and a filmmaker.

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Nate Boyer.

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Welcome to the show.

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Thanks for being here sir.

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Appreciate you.

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Yes.

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Yes.

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You have quite a resume there.

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It's still growing, I'm sure, because you're always wearing all these different hats.

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So you got a lot of things going on in your life.

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Let's start with the past.

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Let's get a little bit of backstory on Nate Boyer, who is Nate Boyer.

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Where are you from?

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Where did you grow up and tell us a little bit about what that was like growing up?

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Yeah, I was born in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, which is right near Knoxville.

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I was going to veterinary school at the University of Tennessee and my mom was an

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environmental engineer at Oak Ridge National Lab out there.

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So I'm born there, but when I was maybe two years old, they moved to the San Francisco Bay.

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My mom got into this doctorate program at UC Berkeley and my dad got a job at Golden Gate

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Fields, a horse racing track out there year round out on the west coast.

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He's from Oregon.

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My mom is from Colorado, so being back out west made a lot more sense for them.

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So growing up there, grew up in the east bay, town called El Serrito, sports fan since

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I was a little kid.

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Huge sports fans.

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Niners, right?

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Niners, San Francisco Giants, Golden State Warriors, those were my teams and they still are.

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Very lucky as a young person to have our football team be such a dynasty because they won five

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Super Bowl starting with the year I was born.

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Obviously, I don't remember that one.

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But I vaguely remember the second one and I definitely remember the last three up until

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the early 90s.

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So that was cool.

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From being a little guy until I was 13, they were great.

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It was Joe Montana and Steve Young and then of course Jerry Rice and Roger Craig and I

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mean eventually down the road it was Deon Sanders and Terrell Loans.

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I mean, just so many legends and we were always really good.

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So I loved football but didn't play it growing up.

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I played baseball, I played basketball, I played soccer, I played everything else and kind

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of regretted that and I know we'll get to that later but it was something that sort of stuck

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with me for a long time.

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So I finished high school up there.

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I didn't really want to go to college or wasn't sure what I would do in college or where

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I would go.

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I didn't really perform particularly well in high school.

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So I moved down to San Diego after high school and started working on a fishing boat and

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taking some firefighting classics that thought that's what I was going to do.

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Wasn't quite ready to grow up.

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So I took some things to happen in life before I took the next big step.

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Yeah, that's some of those details that I wasn't familiar with.

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I guess we never went back that far about what it was like the young Nate Boyer growing

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up.

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So obviously you were a green braid in the army.

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What was their motivation one for joining the military and then more specifically why

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green braid?

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You know, I had a recruiter over to the house when I was a senior in high school but I don't

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think I was very serious about it.

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It was maybe a tactic to scare my parents a little bit or something.

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I don't know.

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I thought about it because I knew that or at least thought that college maybe wasn't going

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to be the next step for me.

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You know, a couple years after high school graduation is when 9/11 happened and that of course

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got a lot of people thinking, not just me, and a lot of people joined the military at that

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time.

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I was 20 years old and I was living in Southern California and moved up to LA by that time.

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And I just didn't think I could handle that kind of responsibility.

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I just wasn't really sure of myself in that way.

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I lacked that confidence and initiative and I didn't know how to work and I didn't have

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ton of structure in my life.

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I was just kind of flying by the seat of my pants which there's some value in that, not

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being too rigid but I also just like, yeah, I was just kind of floundering.

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And then a couple years later I ended up doing some relief work in the Darfur.

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It's a region in Western Sudan that is still war torn and there's been a long ongoing

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genocide in that area.

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And when I went out there in 2004, in a short period of time, you know, 300,000 people had

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been killed and there was, you know, I mean mostly women and children sort of flooding these

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refugee camps across the border into Chad.

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And they were under staffed and I had read this magazine article about what was going on.

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And I just was not in a great place in my life.

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I was 23 and felt like all my friends were graduating college and starting their lives and you

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know, had careers and opportunities and I was like, just doing odd jobs and not really

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sure, you know, who I was.

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So I ended up going over there and doing some of that, doing some relief work for about

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60 days and completely changed my life and perspective on things and also an appreciation

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for how lucky I was to be in the position I was, you know, in America, honestly.

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And say, would you say that there was a lack of purpose that was there for you?

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Oh, yeah.

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Yeah, we share the same sentiment in that.

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You know, when I joined the military, I didn't feel like I had any purpose.

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So one thing that was great about the military is that it provides an opportunity for those

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who don't, who kind of brotherless, you know, we're just trying to figure things out and

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we don't really have any direction and kind of gives us that platform to try to do something

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different.

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Right.

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And see what happens.

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Yeah.

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Now, you hit it on the head.

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I mean, that's, that was exactly how I felt.

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I just felt like, you know, if I wasn't around, everything would be just fine.

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And that's not a great feeling, you know, like, not that I want everything to fall apart

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if I'm not around.

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But you want to, everybody wants to feel like they belong and that they make a difference

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in their life matters, you know, in some way.

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Yeah.

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And there's a reason to get up in the morning and people rely on you.

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Like we need that.

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And so I didn't feel that way.

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And after you just spent in those two months over there, I felt that at least a little bit.

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And I wasn't a doctor or doing anything spectacular.

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Right.

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I was just helping, you know, but it was people that needed help and they needed people

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doing the little things too.

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Certainly.

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Yeah, serving, exactly.

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Hanging out with some of the elders there and helping pass out food rations and playing

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soccer with kids, like super simple stuff, you know, anybody could have done what I was

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doing.

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I wasn't, you know, I wasn't an engineer or a medical professional in any way.

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But I was just, you know, doing the dirty work as well and just the little things.

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So like that was super important for me and like sort of my development and growth into

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feeling that way, feeling and building a little bit of confidence and feeling like, okay,

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like people, people like me can find a place, you know, I mean, anybody can find a place.

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Or people like me can find a sense of purpose.

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You just got to kind of look for it and you got to, you know, get in with your fit in and

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all those things and you're fitting in was in the middle of a continent I've never been

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to and around people that, you know, I didn't necessarily have a ton of common with or even

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I had big language barriers.

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It was towards the end of that trip.

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I started thinking about what was next and like wondering like, so now what, you know,

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I don't, I don't, I'm not going to go work for the Peace Corps.

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Nothing wrong with that.

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I just didn't seem like a good fit for me and I ended up getting malaria and this family

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took care of me over there.

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They had a mud hut with like an extra room, a little cot for me to recover on and they

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put this radio next to my bed and the only channel that came through was the BBC News and

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I was listening to the second battle of Fallujah, like the play by play essentially and this

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is in the fall of 2004.

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And so I was just sort of felt like it was a message, you know, from the cosmos that I'm,

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this is what I'm supposed to do next, you know, join the military and go fight for those

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who can't fight for themselves.

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And so I came back to the States, found out about the 18-experry program, which is the

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Army's fast track into being a Green Beret.

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There was no guarantee you're going to make it, you know, I think only about 20% of the

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people that went to selection ended up finishing and earning that Green Beret, but you at least

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had a shot at it if you scored high enough on the tests.

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And so I was able to get into that program and eventually earn my Green Beret.

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And why that program?

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Just because the special forces, like their mission, this unconventional warfare, everything

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you're doing is foreign internal defense, which means, you know, you're fighting alongside

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living with training indigenous forces.

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So these people, you know, Iraqis or Afghans for the most part at that time anyway, like

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you are working hand in hand with them.

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And that was important to me after spending some of that time in the Darfur.

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Like I wanted to be around people we were intending to serve.

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So that was a big part of your motivation, right?

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Totally.

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And eventually a lot of the military adopted that anyway.

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Like most of the time things shifted several years later as the war continued to grind

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on.

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And so a lot more of partnered work being done, you know, partnered missions, not just

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with special forces, but the special forces led the way on that.

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Their motto is "Dea Presse O'Lebar," which means to free the oppressed.

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And that really spoke to me as well.

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I just raptured by that motto.

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I just sounded like, that's who I want to be.

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That's what I want to be a part of.

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Freeing those or being a part of the mission to free those that are sort of experiencing

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this ultimate impression.

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So you've been to war obviously.

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I'm inviting other vets to be on the show.

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I'm obviously on my veteran myself.

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You are.

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Also part of a elite group, the submarine force.

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But one of the tallest ones that ever, yeah, you're a lot taller.

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You're doing all right, didn't you?

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Did you shave the ass?

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I'm usually taller than most people I'm standing next to, but I still don't consider myself

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very tall.

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We had a guy, two guys on the ship that were 65 and 66.

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I'm sure they got some horrible neck issues right now.

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Big time.

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Exactly.

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Going to war, just like a lot of that, that you and I know being a part of MVP, we meet

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so many of our peers that are veterans who've been to war.

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They've experienced great traumas from war, you know, PTSD.

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The things that you've seen that you can't unsee, even when the lights are off and your

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eyes are closed, those images are still heavily ingrained in your brain.

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Share some insights on some of those challenges with the traumas that you face firsthand being

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at war.

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There's a lot.

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There's a lot of different things that people experience and everybody's experience

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at war is very nuanced.

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That's one thing.

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People like to put a blanket statement on post-traumatic stress and they also generally, and it's

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not their fault, it's the way the media sort of spun this, but it's like, this is a veteran

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issue.

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People that have PTSD are veterans and it's like, well, some of them are, but there's plenty

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of people that never joined the military or went to war or were any kind of combative

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situation that have post-traumatic stress.

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It could be from childhood, it could be from our car accident, it could be from a million

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things, right?

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That's one distinction to make sure and remember because everybody's experience, even those

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who did go to war, are very different.

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We don't all have our best friend dying in our arms.

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Even if we did, people would react to that differently.

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People would have a different response to that.

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It was early on in my very first appointment, we were on a convoy and one of the vehicles

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on our convoy was hit a roadside bomb and the driver was killed instantly and the gunner

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was ejected and people could caught on fire and somehow only one of those people passed.

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Our medic actually ended up saving a couple of those guys' lives.

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It wasn't even a big fire fight at that moment or anything like that, but it was just this

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huge shock to the system, no matter how much of the two years of training and the infantry

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and the special forces that had gone through, it was still just like, when it's real, it's

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different.

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I just remember the smells and I guess they would call it the fog of war or something, I don't

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know, maybe they wouldn't call it that, but that's what it sort of felt like.

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I was trying to get my bearings and figure out what's the best way to protect the guys

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around me.

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What am I supposed to be doing right now, beyond just making sure I'm pulling security

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somewhere and gathering intel and making sure the situation is under control and all

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of those things, taking orders.

235
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I just remember smelling barbecue chicken.

236
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I was like, at least barbecue me chicken right now and then realizing that's the smell of

237
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burning flesh.

238
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Things like that that you just don't think about in the show now and probably forever, there's

239
00:14:22,720 --> 00:14:27,360
certain, when a car door slams or somebody drops something in the kitchen at a restaurant

240
00:14:27,360 --> 00:14:33,200
that shatters or they shoot the cannon off at the Texas football games when we score a

241
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touchdown.

242
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I jump and it's quick.

243
00:14:35,920 --> 00:14:40,080
It's not like it sends me into this spiral, but I feel that.

244
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If I'm at a barbecue and I smell that familiar smell, my mind does go there for a heartbeat.

245
00:14:47,240 --> 00:14:51,600
Just things like, it's just one example, but just things like that, you'll never forget.

246
00:14:51,600 --> 00:14:56,200
That was just, I mean, I was in confights down the road and experienced a lot of different

247
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things in my time.

248
00:14:58,120 --> 00:15:01,880
I experienced a lot of long periods of time where nothing happened.

249
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It was the most boring time of my life for months between the three combat deployments and

250
00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:13,840
even some of the other rotations where it's like a whole hell of a lot of nothing is going

251
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down.

252
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You got to stay switched on.

253
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You can't get complacent.

254
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You always got to be ready because before you know it, you're going 100 miles an hour

255
00:15:23,920 --> 00:15:29,400
every day for weeks on end and you're kind of grateful for the downtime you had and you

256
00:15:29,400 --> 00:15:31,840
can't wait for the next one.

257
00:15:31,840 --> 00:15:37,520
So it's just a very, it's hard to really put those things into words.

258
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I try to do the best I can through senses that maybe people can relate to a little bit

259
00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:45,240
because until you, unless you're there, it's just like anything.

260
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If you don't experience it for yourself, it's really hard to relate to.

261
00:15:49,880 --> 00:15:57,520
Yeah, there's a stigma that PTSD only associates with those that have been the war.

262
00:15:57,520 --> 00:16:02,760
Reality is that trauma is for anybody.

263
00:16:02,760 --> 00:16:08,680
Everyone has experienced some form of trauma, whether it's verbal, physical abuse as a child

264
00:16:08,680 --> 00:16:11,560
from someone close to you.

265
00:16:11,560 --> 00:16:17,640
People that I deal with who experience homelessness, there's traumas there, but it's more of a human

266
00:16:17,640 --> 00:16:18,640
issue.

267
00:16:18,640 --> 00:16:25,360
We have to kind of separate that from just being a veteran or someone that's been the war.

268
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Trauma is a human thing.

269
00:16:26,920 --> 00:16:32,880
We're just trying to educate people on that to just teach people that it's not just somebody

270
00:16:32,880 --> 00:16:37,920
that's been the word that's going to be shell shocked or suffering from PTSD.

271
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It's trauma is trauma and it doesn't really have a specific identity.

272
00:16:45,040 --> 00:16:53,400
So let's transition from going from time and service to walking on at the University of

273
00:16:53,400 --> 00:16:56,200
Texas, Long Horns.

274
00:16:56,200 --> 00:16:57,840
How did that come about?

275
00:16:57,840 --> 00:17:04,760
Yeah, so as I mentioned before, I had those regrets of not playing as a kid and it just

276
00:17:04,760 --> 00:17:08,600
stuck with me through my teens, into my 20s.

277
00:17:08,600 --> 00:17:12,440
I was in Iraq actually when I had the opportunity to reenlist.

278
00:17:12,440 --> 00:17:21,280
That was a year out of my contract and I was 28 at the time and I was like, man, I don't

279
00:17:21,280 --> 00:17:24,200
go to college now, I'll probably never go.

280
00:17:24,200 --> 00:17:25,480
Maybe I should do that.

281
00:17:25,480 --> 00:17:33,840
So I decided to go to school instead and go to, I eventually reenlisted into the Texas

282
00:17:33,840 --> 00:17:36,520
National Guard so I still was in the military.

283
00:17:36,520 --> 00:17:40,880
You know, I told myself, too, wherever I go to school, I'm going to try out for the football

284
00:17:40,880 --> 00:17:41,880
team.

285
00:17:41,880 --> 00:17:44,080
I went to the University of Texas.

286
00:17:44,080 --> 00:17:45,280
It was, you know, I loved Austin.

287
00:17:45,280 --> 00:17:48,960
I'd been there once and had a great time and went back and visited once I came home for the

288
00:17:48,960 --> 00:17:51,200
deployment just to make sure I went to campus.

289
00:17:51,200 --> 00:17:52,200
I mean, it's a great university.

290
00:17:52,200 --> 00:17:58,360
It's one of the best publics in the country and they have a legendary football program and

291
00:17:58,360 --> 00:18:02,720
I just love the city of Austin and everything just kind of made sense.

292
00:18:02,720 --> 00:18:06,480
And so that's the only place I applied and I started doing some online courses to get

293
00:18:06,480 --> 00:18:11,600
my grades up through Central Texas College and transferred in as a sophomore and got accepted

294
00:18:11,600 --> 00:18:15,200
and left the military in January, left the activity anyway.

295
00:18:15,200 --> 00:18:19,000
In January of 2010, went to UT.

296
00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:24,480
Went to Austin and walked on, you know, went just went to tryouts and even though I hadn't

297
00:18:24,480 --> 00:18:27,480
played before, I was a decent athlete and I prepared for it.

298
00:18:27,480 --> 00:18:33,320
You know, I've been working out for good nine months since returning home from the deployment,

299
00:18:33,320 --> 00:18:36,400
doing football-specific drills and workouts.

300
00:18:36,400 --> 00:18:39,880
You know, so I made the team as a walk on safety.

301
00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:44,120
Just on the scout team really, so getting the team ready for the games on Saturday and I

302
00:18:44,120 --> 00:18:48,760
got to dress out for the home games, but I wasn't on the travel squad or anything that

303
00:18:48,760 --> 00:18:50,160
first year.

304
00:18:50,160 --> 00:18:55,920
My sophomore year, I relisted into the Texas card and in the Special Forces is still, which

305
00:18:55,920 --> 00:18:56,920
was cool.

306
00:18:56,920 --> 00:19:01,580
And I ended up doing a couple more deployments throughout my time in college, but I also

307
00:19:01,580 --> 00:19:05,960
started long snapping, which is a very thankless job and, you know, we're very used to doing

308
00:19:05,960 --> 00:19:07,680
the thankless jobs in the military.

309
00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:09,560
So I had no problem with that.

310
00:19:09,560 --> 00:19:12,520
So long snapping, you know, it's certainly not, you're not the star.

311
00:19:12,520 --> 00:19:16,080
Nobody really knows who you are unless you screw up, but you got to be precise and you got

312
00:19:16,080 --> 00:19:22,080
to be accurate and you got to be consistent and you got to set up the punter and the kicker

313
00:19:22,080 --> 00:19:24,360
to do their jobs, you know.

314
00:19:24,360 --> 00:19:29,240
So I took a lot of pride in that and ended up winning the job my sophomore year and started

315
00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:33,000
for three years as the longhorn's long snapper, which was cool.

316
00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:36,000
The American snapper is, I like to call it.

317
00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:39,080
All right.

318
00:19:39,080 --> 00:19:43,480
You are the co-founder of merging Vets and Players organization.

319
00:19:43,480 --> 00:19:47,760
I've probably been a part of since 2016.

320
00:19:47,760 --> 00:19:53,780
Before we talk a little bit more about that, can you just explain to the listeners what MVP

321
00:19:53,780 --> 00:19:55,280
stands for?

322
00:19:55,280 --> 00:19:56,280
Yeah.

323
00:19:56,280 --> 00:20:04,080
So, you know, real quick, I'll say that when Texas, when football ended at Texas, I thought

324
00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:05,320
football was over for me, right?

325
00:20:05,320 --> 00:20:09,280
I'd gotten out of the military, I was getting out of the military in February 2015, out of

326
00:20:09,280 --> 00:20:12,560
the guard, so I was going to be completely done.

327
00:20:12,560 --> 00:20:18,240
I finished, I played my last year at Texas in 2014 and I was pretty sure that was it, you

328
00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:21,160
know, and that football was done.

329
00:20:21,160 --> 00:20:25,080
The military was done and I was like starting to think about what was next and then all of a sudden

330
00:20:25,080 --> 00:20:29,000
I get this opportunity to play for the Seahawks for a very brief time.

331
00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:32,240
I was in training camp, played in the preseason before getting cut.

332
00:20:32,240 --> 00:20:39,400
And so then I get cut in September of 2015 and I had met Jake Laser at Unbreakable Performance

333
00:20:39,400 --> 00:20:45,600
Center just a few months prior to that and he'd helped train me some and he helped me get

334
00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:50,000
my agent, you know, and he really wanted to see me succeed on the football field and, you

335
00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:54,080
know, it was enough to just get into camp and kind of get that opportunity.

336
00:20:54,080 --> 00:20:59,240
And then I got cut and I had, you know, no, no, no more camouflage, no more jersey.

337
00:20:59,240 --> 00:21:04,280
Not about going back in the military, wasn't quite sure what was next and Jay was like, hey,

338
00:21:04,280 --> 00:21:08,880
there's a lot of people in your shoes and I've been thinking about a way for us to work together

339
00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:15,280
and build something 'cause I want to bring together, you know, vets and athletes and I want

340
00:21:15,280 --> 00:21:19,520
to call it MVP, which would stand for merging vets and players.

341
00:21:19,520 --> 00:21:25,280
And so we co-founded MVP at the end of 2015 and started really operating in about April

342
00:21:25,280 --> 00:21:26,560
of 2016.

343
00:21:26,560 --> 00:21:32,800
Simply by bringing vets and athletes up to the gym to train together and then to huddle

344
00:21:32,800 --> 00:21:37,000
up afterwards and just talk through our stuff, you know.

345
00:21:37,000 --> 00:21:43,240
Peer to peer, open forum, not a lot of rules and regulations to it, just speak from the

346
00:21:43,240 --> 00:21:48,520
heart and everybody's supporting one another and we've got each other's back and we're all

347
00:21:48,520 --> 00:21:50,080
going through this very similar things.

348
00:21:50,080 --> 00:21:55,920
Of course, war and playing sports are different, but that structure and camaraderie and identity

349
00:21:55,920 --> 00:22:00,680
with the uniform and team and locker room and all those things are very similar and losing

350
00:22:00,680 --> 00:22:04,200
that is a struggle for both vets and players.

351
00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:05,200
And so that's how it came about.

352
00:22:05,200 --> 00:22:08,200
And yeah, you've been with us really since the beginning, which is.

353
00:22:08,200 --> 00:22:09,200
Yeah.

354
00:22:09,200 --> 00:22:13,360
I was going through my own transition for a very long time, just trying to figure out what

355
00:22:13,360 --> 00:22:19,440
I was supposed to do next and I remember getting that invitation from you and Jay and it

356
00:22:19,440 --> 00:22:26,920
was a small group of Ragtag individuals that came into unbreakable and we've been calling

357
00:22:26,920 --> 00:22:29,360
ever since and it's been quite a ride.

358
00:22:29,360 --> 00:22:34,360
You know, I've had other opportunities that came through just being a member and that's

359
00:22:34,360 --> 00:22:37,480
why I've been so passionate about the program.

360
00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:44,680
I believe in the message of it and we're going to continue to grow, just keep growing and

361
00:22:44,680 --> 00:22:53,280
individually and corporately to just keep reaching those folks that could use this program.

362
00:22:53,280 --> 00:22:54,280
Absolutely.

363
00:22:54,280 --> 00:22:58,840
Yeah, and I'm excited about getting things rolling in Nashville and I just want to say thank

364
00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:01,080
you for taking the lead on that, brother.

365
00:23:01,080 --> 00:23:03,320
It really does mean a lot.

366
00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:07,040
We've already done a couple of engagements out there and actually three of them and we're

367
00:23:07,040 --> 00:23:10,920
just going to continue to push for that.

368
00:23:10,920 --> 00:23:11,920
It's a great place for it.

369
00:23:11,920 --> 00:23:17,480
There's obviously a lot of veterans in the area, the Big Sports Town, you and I were just

370
00:23:17,480 --> 00:23:22,480
out at Fort Campbell recently with the 101st Airborne and the Special Forces Group and that

371
00:23:22,480 --> 00:23:23,480
was really cool.

372
00:23:23,480 --> 00:23:24,480
That was awesome.

373
00:23:24,480 --> 00:23:27,120
Yeah, it's good stuff, man.

374
00:23:27,120 --> 00:23:28,920
Thank you to the Titans too.

375
00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:33,920
I'm getting on board and I know that you've done some stuff with the Nashville Predators

376
00:23:33,920 --> 00:23:34,920
as well.

377
00:23:34,920 --> 00:23:36,400
We're just building it, man.

378
00:23:36,400 --> 00:23:37,400
Brick by Brick.

379
00:23:37,400 --> 00:23:38,400
Absolutely.

380
00:23:38,400 --> 00:23:39,400
Absolutely.

381
00:23:39,400 --> 00:23:46,400
You know, more people will start learning more about MVP as we continue to put it out there

382
00:23:46,400 --> 00:23:48,760
and raise awareness.

383
00:23:48,760 --> 00:23:53,960
I'm going to use that a lot in my show, bringing on vets and people that are members of the

384
00:23:53,960 --> 00:23:55,120
organization.

385
00:23:55,120 --> 00:24:00,240
I just believe it's the right thing to do to provide an outlet for those that are trying

386
00:24:00,240 --> 00:24:05,680
to figure out what the next steps are and they just fall enough and they need community

387
00:24:05,680 --> 00:24:06,880
like they used to have.

388
00:24:06,880 --> 00:24:08,840
So we're going to keep doing that.

389
00:24:08,840 --> 00:24:16,520
Another big part of MVP is that you actually made a film about this program.

390
00:24:16,520 --> 00:24:22,320
You started getting into acting, you know, Hollywood and Nate Boyer.

391
00:24:22,320 --> 00:24:30,800
So it's been a pleasure to see you growing in that area, learning the acting side and then

392
00:24:30,800 --> 00:24:31,800
MVP.

393
00:24:31,800 --> 00:24:33,120
You wrote it.

394
00:24:33,120 --> 00:24:35,000
You produced it.

395
00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:36,000
You directed it.

396
00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:37,000
You started in it.

397
00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:38,000
What?

398
00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:41,120
Was that experience like just doing this film?

399
00:24:41,120 --> 00:24:42,120
MVP was the first.

400
00:24:42,120 --> 00:24:43,120
Yeah.

401
00:24:43,120 --> 00:24:47,360
First of all, it was a hell of a lot cheaper to make the movie if I didn't have to pay any

402
00:24:47,360 --> 00:24:48,680
of those people.

403
00:24:48,680 --> 00:24:53,600
So if I wore all those hats, then I don't have to pay those hats.

404
00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:58,320
And so that helped us get it done because we did it on a shoe string.

405
00:24:58,320 --> 00:25:05,600
But yeah, it was during the fall of 2020, you know, and so the pandemic just kind of rolled

406
00:25:05,600 --> 00:25:11,040
on and didn't know when the end was coming.

407
00:25:11,040 --> 00:25:14,760
There was a lot of people that were just wanting to get back to work and figure out something,

408
00:25:14,760 --> 00:25:19,400
work on, especially creative folks and a lot of them in Los Angeles that found themselves

409
00:25:19,400 --> 00:25:24,240
out there because they were interested in, you know, in film and television at some level.

410
00:25:24,240 --> 00:25:29,040
And I was one of those people, you know, I took some acting classes when I first got out

411
00:25:29,040 --> 00:25:32,320
there after, you know, football was over.

412
00:25:32,320 --> 00:25:38,020
And then I did an internship with Peter Berg at Film 44 and Pete had done, you know,

413
00:25:38,020 --> 00:25:40,960
Lone Survivor and Friday Night Lides and a lot of football.

414
00:25:40,960 --> 00:25:41,960
Love his work.

415
00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:42,960
Love his work.

416
00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:44,120
Yeah.

417
00:25:44,120 --> 00:25:49,520
And I just learned a good amount from doing that internship and enough to kind of get me

418
00:25:49,520 --> 00:25:55,560
started, you know, and I developed this relationship, friendship with Braden after good, who was Pete's

419
00:25:55,560 --> 00:25:56,560
head of features.

420
00:25:56,560 --> 00:26:02,000
Braden eventually became and is a Sylvester Stallone's producing partner at Balboa production.

421
00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:08,280
So Braden heard I was working on a script about MVP and Stallone had been to a couple of

422
00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:13,080
our huddles and, you know, was supportive of what we were doing and what Jay had started.

423
00:26:13,080 --> 00:26:17,080
And he was a member of the gym out there for I think six months or so.

424
00:26:17,080 --> 00:26:21,280
You know, from there it was like, I got notes from Braden and then I started sharing it

425
00:26:21,280 --> 00:26:24,440
with other people and started getting this script crafted down.

426
00:26:24,440 --> 00:26:29,080
And, you know, when the pandemic was going on, it was like, this thing's just got to happen

427
00:26:29,080 --> 00:26:34,120
now. I found out about the Hollywood Veteran Center being closed down.

428
00:26:34,120 --> 00:26:35,120
They lost funding.

429
00:26:35,120 --> 00:26:37,960
It was funded by the V.O.A. and the V.A. I believe.

430
00:26:37,960 --> 00:26:41,840
But, you know, during COVID, there was a lot of casualties out there as far as businesses

431
00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:43,840
and nonprofits and all that.

432
00:26:43,840 --> 00:26:44,840
Right.

433
00:26:44,840 --> 00:26:47,040
Grateful to have MVP as a charity survive that.

434
00:26:47,040 --> 00:26:51,400
As sad as it all was, it was kind of an opportunity for us to make our movie because we

435
00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:56,240
got a lot of talent in front of them behind the camera for next to nothing.

436
00:26:56,240 --> 00:27:01,960
And we had a ton of veterans who just wanted to help, you know, and be a part of it.

437
00:27:01,960 --> 00:27:05,320
And so we made the movie and it turned out pretty good.

438
00:27:05,320 --> 00:27:07,120
Like I said, it was such a team thing.

439
00:27:07,120 --> 00:27:11,560
And, you know, I know I have a lot of those titles in it, but like what people don't understand

440
00:27:11,560 --> 00:27:16,400
is there was other producers alongside me and I had a co-writer and, you know, my cinematographer

441
00:27:16,400 --> 00:27:21,640
is an Emmy award-winning cat that I'd met through some work at the NFL that I was doing.

442
00:27:21,640 --> 00:27:24,600
And everybody was just doing it at a cut rate.

443
00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:30,360
You know, then you get people like Jay and Tony Gonzalez and Randy Couture and Michael

444
00:27:30,360 --> 00:27:34,240
Strahan and Howie Long, you know, have a cameo and their Wiz Khalifa gave us an original

445
00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:35,240
song.

446
00:27:35,240 --> 00:27:37,480
Like that's crazy, you know, you didn't ask for nothing.

447
00:27:37,480 --> 00:27:43,080
And Salon puts his name on it as an executive producer and Tom Arnold's in it and you know,

448
00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:45,080
it's just like, goes on and on.

449
00:27:45,080 --> 00:27:51,080
Dan Loria and our good friend Jared Bunch, he's a member and former NFL player.

450
00:27:51,080 --> 00:27:52,080
Crazy.

451
00:27:52,080 --> 00:27:58,760
people just sort of gave and gave and gave and then we got it done. Now it's out. You know

452
00:27:58,760 --> 00:28:04,140
what Paramount Plus is going to do an additional promotion for it coming up here soon, which

453
00:28:04,140 --> 00:28:09,340
is great but it's on Paramount Plus if you have that. If you don't you can rent it for four

454
00:28:09,340 --> 00:28:13,880
bucks on Prime and Apple TV and all these other places. So it's definitely out there.

455
00:28:13,880 --> 00:28:18,280
You can buy the DVD if you want. It's not hard to find. It's not hard to find and I just

456
00:28:18,280 --> 00:28:21,760
really encourage people to watch that because it's a good way to learn about really

457
00:28:21,760 --> 00:28:26,680
how we started. Of course it's a movie so it's like there are some creative liberties

458
00:28:26,680 --> 00:28:31,760
but it's all based on real people and real stories. Most of that script was written just

459
00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:38,320
from listening to people talking at MVP and you know and kind of hearing what that transition

460
00:28:38,320 --> 00:28:45,040
is like and what they're kind of going through it. And it was just that yeah it was it was

461
00:28:45,040 --> 00:28:49,600
it was one of the hardest things I've ever done but incredibly rewarding and I hope to

462
00:28:49,600 --> 00:28:56,160
make it another one soon. Hey man you did a great job on that. I've seen it two or three times.

463
00:28:56,160 --> 00:29:01,800
I've told numbers of people about it and we're going to get some more exposure on that film

464
00:29:01,800 --> 00:29:07,960
because it's it's nicely done especially with the shoestring budget that you had and thanks

465
00:29:07,960 --> 00:29:15,240
man. It's only the beginning sir. One other benefit I had by being a member of MVP was

466
00:29:15,240 --> 00:29:21,200
that you introduced me to Mike Pereira from Fox, the rules analyst and that got me into

467
00:29:21,200 --> 00:29:27,400
officiating high school football. I did F for four seasons and I was the first first

468
00:29:27,400 --> 00:29:33,040
one in that that program to actually go on and work some games as a football official.

469
00:29:33,040 --> 00:29:38,720
So yeah. I was one another another benefit that I had but just knowing eight boy or because

470
00:29:38,720 --> 00:29:42,560
we get we get all these different connections we can make all these different connections

471
00:29:42,560 --> 00:29:47,920
is by being a part of program because everybody wants to be involved in something that that

472
00:29:47,920 --> 00:29:54,040
is going somewhere and something has true meaning and purpose behind it. So thanks again

473
00:29:54,040 --> 00:30:01,240
for that. No thank you man. You're the inaugural battlefields to ball fields official. The

474
00:30:01,240 --> 00:30:07,940
first official official. You know it and the thing about you know why I chose to do this

475
00:30:07,940 --> 00:30:16,020
show is to encourage people to just be intentional. I came to you because I had a need. I was struggling

476
00:30:16,020 --> 00:30:22,020
financially. I was on workers comp and I was like make a little more money to support my

477
00:30:22,020 --> 00:30:27,620
family. So I came to you and I remember you saying I don't know how useful I can be but

478
00:30:27,620 --> 00:30:33,900
I'll keep my ear so and I was like come on bro you're your Nate Boyer and you have influence.

479
00:30:33,900 --> 00:30:39,620
I heard a guy that went and spoke to Colin Kaepernick when he was taking a knee on the field and

480
00:30:39,620 --> 00:30:45,980
you've done so many different interviews you know nationwide. So I just like you know I

481
00:30:45,980 --> 00:30:50,940
had a need so I wanted to make that need known so I came to you and you present this opportunity

482
00:30:50,940 --> 00:30:58,220
to meet Mike at Fox. You know that's just been the stories going forward with with our

483
00:30:58,220 --> 00:31:04,060
members is that we make connections and it's pretty awesome and it's just stressing the importance

484
00:31:04,060 --> 00:31:11,060
of what can happen when you're intentional just like my journey's been here in Nashville being

485
00:31:11,060 --> 00:31:17,500
intentional about keeping this program moving forward. But I wanted to ask you before we go

486
00:31:17,500 --> 00:31:23,500
what is it for yourself personally what do you know that you need to be more intentional

487
00:31:23,500 --> 00:31:31,260
about whether it's personally or especially. Yeah there's a lot of things of course but the number

488
00:31:31,260 --> 00:31:38,300
one that sticks out to me and I always struggle with this is just being able to to say no and not

489
00:31:38,300 --> 00:31:44,780
feeling bad about it not feeling guilty about it or just like when I'm tapped out letting people

490
00:31:44,780 --> 00:31:49,580
just verbalizing that letting people know that you know like hey I need a day or I need a week or

491
00:31:49,580 --> 00:31:56,860
I need a I need a minute here just to kind of recalibrate and because if you don't have you know this

492
00:31:56,860 --> 00:32:02,060
as much as anybody because you give a lot of your time and your work is involved with service still

493
00:32:02,060 --> 00:32:08,780
today. If you don't at least take some time for yourself and take care of yourself and refill your

494
00:32:08,780 --> 00:32:13,740
cup like you got nothing to give and so like that's super important so I'm just because I have a lot

495
00:32:13,740 --> 00:32:19,340
of things I'm interested in a lot of passions and I love to hustle and I love to I love to be busy

496
00:32:19,340 --> 00:32:25,420
I like to take on a lot you know there is a point where it's too much and you're not doing something to

497
00:32:25,420 --> 00:32:30,620
the best of your ability because you said yes too many times so it's like it's just doing it being

498
00:32:30,620 --> 00:32:35,980
better at identifying the time and place to say no and not worry so much about missing out because I

499
00:32:35,980 --> 00:32:39,660
get that FOMO thing you know and I'm just like we have it if I say no to this like what if it's

500
00:32:39,660 --> 00:32:44,060
this incredible thing it's like well so what like someone else deserves to do it then you know

501
00:32:44,060 --> 00:32:49,660
that can put more time into it so let them let them do it you know yeah I'm grateful to God that

502
00:32:49,660 --> 00:32:58,540
he is allowed our paths to cross and I call you brother today also you know know that I'm thankful

503
00:32:58,540 --> 00:33:05,580
that my God has given me some purpose in life and that purpose is to be of service to others

504
00:33:05,580 --> 00:33:13,180
with the negative side of that as I can over commit I'm not God I can't be God and I've tried to be

505
00:33:13,180 --> 00:33:20,620
like God to to the point where I've just burned myself out and so I just have to be mindful of that but

506
00:33:20,620 --> 00:33:28,780
I'm committed to the furthering of this mission which is MVP and I'm happy to have you alongside me

507
00:33:28,780 --> 00:33:35,180
trudging forward and and making it grow because there's so many veterans and athletes hopefully we

508
00:33:35,180 --> 00:33:40,060
can give more participation for my athletes we're gonna keep working on that but um yes we will

509
00:33:40,060 --> 00:33:46,540
I'm very fortunate blessed to know you brother and I appreciate you your life I appreciate you coming

510
00:33:46,540 --> 00:33:52,460
on the show to let us know a little bit more about you you know you've been on a thousand different shows

511
00:33:52,460 --> 00:33:59,020
before privileged to have you on this one to support me so thank you for that sir of course man thank

512
00:33:59,020 --> 00:34:04,540
you for having me Thomas I love you too brother appreciate you yeah much love to you brother and God bless you right

513
00:34:04,540 --> 00:34:14,540
[Music]