WEBVTT - The American Dream with Nate Boyer 0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:02.520 So I joked around with this next guest that he's 0:00:02.560 --> 0:00:05.240 the Dosekis guy, that the most interesting man in the world. 0:00:05.360 --> 0:00:07.720 He's only forty one years old, yet he has lived 0:00:07.760 --> 0:00:10.760 an extraordinary life. He has served as a Green Beret 0:00:10.840 --> 0:00:13.920 doing tours in Afghanistan in Iraq. Then he went on 0:00:14.040 --> 0:00:16.680 to the University of Texas to play on the football 0:00:16.760 --> 0:00:19.720 team as a walk on at age nine, while also 0:00:19.800 --> 0:00:21.960 serving in the National Guard at the same time. Then 0:00:21.960 --> 0:00:23.439 he went on to play in the NFL for the 0:00:23.480 --> 0:00:27.000 Seattle Seahawks. I mean, the guys accomplished so much, lived 0:00:27.000 --> 0:00:29.800 so many interesting lives, and then got into acting as well, 0:00:29.920 --> 0:00:32.199 which we'll get into in the conversation. And then he 0:00:32.200 --> 0:00:34.800 had this other interesting moment in his life. He wrote 0:00:34.800 --> 0:00:37.800 this open letter to Colin Kaepernick and the Army Times, 0:00:37.840 --> 0:00:41.280 which then led to Colin Kaepernick inviting him to fly 0:00:41.320 --> 0:00:43.839 out and have a conversation with him. It's also interesting 0:00:43.880 --> 0:00:47.400 what he's done after leaving the NFL, after retiring from 0:00:47.440 --> 0:00:51.559 the military. He started this incredible organization called Merging Vets 0:00:51.600 --> 0:00:54.960 and Players, and it marries these worlds that he's lived 0:00:54.960 --> 0:00:57.360 in kind of trying to find your purpose in life, 0:00:57.440 --> 0:01:00.000 and that's what this organization is geared to, and then 0:01:00.000 --> 0:01:03.480 of this incredible organization, he created a movie. It was 0:01:03.560 --> 0:01:07.000 his directional debut recently, this movie that is out called 0:01:07.200 --> 0:01:09.600 m v P. I'm telling you he has just lived 0:01:10.000 --> 0:01:13.280 such an interesting life, a life of purpose, doing so 0:01:13.400 --> 0:01:17.440 much for our country. Just a truly incredible and inspiring guy. 0:01:17.480 --> 0:01:19.600 I hope you enjoyed this conversation with an ape boyar 0:01:35.560 --> 0:01:38.520 to me where I feel like you're the doset guy, 0:01:38.720 --> 0:01:42.000 the most interesting man in the world. You quite literally 0:01:42.040 --> 0:01:45.559 have one of the most interesting life stories. Green Bay 0:01:45.800 --> 0:01:50.760 College Football, NFL. Hollywan, Why do you think you've been 0:01:50.800 --> 0:01:55.200 able to navigate so many industries? I don't know how 0:01:55.200 --> 0:01:57.040 well I've been able to navigate them all, but I 0:01:57.160 --> 0:02:00.960 definitely have had a strong interests in all of them. 0:02:01.120 --> 0:02:04.080 And I mean to be completely honest. When I was 0:02:04.600 --> 0:02:06.920 when I was in my early twenties and made decision 0:02:06.920 --> 0:02:11.120 to join the military, before I've been doing football, before 0:02:11.200 --> 0:02:14.360 really pursuing film and television all that stuff, I didn't 0:02:14.360 --> 0:02:17.320 have a ton of confidence. I mean, those are things, 0:02:17.320 --> 0:02:21.520 but I wouldn't have actually genuinely attempted or believe that 0:02:21.600 --> 0:02:25.200 I could do without that time in the military. Um 0:02:25.280 --> 0:02:29.440 for various reasons. I mean it first of all, taught 0:02:29.480 --> 0:02:32.399 me how to how to work. That taught me how 0:02:32.480 --> 0:02:36.680 to uh communicate with people and sort of do my 0:02:36.720 --> 0:02:40.760 best to understand whether it's a culture or an industry 0:02:40.840 --> 0:02:45.359 or something that I don't really know anything about. Um. 0:02:45.520 --> 0:02:49.480 But but also it just developed confidence that you know, 0:02:49.760 --> 0:02:53.639 why not go try these things? Why not fully pursue them? 0:02:53.639 --> 0:02:56.239 I mean, life is short. Uh. If it's something that 0:02:56.280 --> 0:02:59.800 you're passionate about and interested in, like what are you doing? Uh, 0:03:00.480 --> 0:03:03.240 you know, not going after that? But I think that's 0:03:03.960 --> 0:03:06.240 I think that's crazy if you're if you were able 0:03:06.280 --> 0:03:09.000 to you know, if you have uh the access and 0:03:09.160 --> 0:03:12.239 an opportunity. Uh, who cares if you fail at the 0:03:12.320 --> 0:03:14.560 end of the day. Really, So those are things that 0:03:14.560 --> 0:03:16.600 that kind of lessons that I learned along the way 0:03:16.639 --> 0:03:20.280 and things that I didn't necessarily I mean I didn't 0:03:20.280 --> 0:03:22.760 know at twenty three before I signed on the doggline 0:03:22.760 --> 0:03:26.000 and took the oath, you know, to join the military. Well, 0:03:26.000 --> 0:03:28.720 and what's interesting is before you joined the military, you 0:03:28.760 --> 0:03:31.040 had moved out to Los Angeles, You're trying to get 0:03:31.080 --> 0:03:33.440 involved in show business. You get a call from your 0:03:33.480 --> 0:03:36.800 mom about nine eleven watching what was happening with the 0:03:36.800 --> 0:03:39.920 World Trade Center, and it seems like that's sort of 0:03:40.040 --> 0:03:43.360 changed the trajectory of your future. It made you look 0:03:43.360 --> 0:03:45.960 at the world a little bit differently, different career ambitions, 0:03:46.320 --> 0:03:49.280 sort of talk about how that changed the trajectory of 0:03:49.280 --> 0:03:51.760 your life. Yeah, I mean, I think nine eleven was 0:03:51.800 --> 0:03:54.480 such a defining moment for so many of us. And 0:03:55.120 --> 0:03:58.119 obviously that definition varies on who you talk to and 0:03:58.120 --> 0:04:01.680 and their relationship to that day. I was in I 0:04:01.760 --> 0:04:03.680 was living in Los Angeles at the time, far from 0:04:03.680 --> 0:04:08.680 New York, um, and far from really feeling connected to 0:04:10.160 --> 0:04:12.800 anything that was going on in the world outside of 0:04:12.840 --> 0:04:15.520 my bubble. Yeah. I grew up in the San Francisco 0:04:15.560 --> 0:04:20.320 Bay area. Um, my parents were really hard working people, 0:04:20.480 --> 0:04:23.560 you know. They they believe the first two in their 0:04:23.560 --> 0:04:29.520 families to to finish college, and um, you know, my 0:04:29.520 --> 0:04:34.560 my mother getting PhD at UC Berkeley in an engineering 0:04:34.640 --> 0:04:38.080 field that was that was definitely mostly male dominated. And 0:04:38.560 --> 0:04:40.880 um my dad was a race horse, vetinarian and Golden 0:04:40.880 --> 0:04:44.679 gate fields out there and just really really hard working people. 0:04:44.720 --> 0:04:47.560 And for whatever reason, I mean, you know, we all 0:04:47.600 --> 0:04:51.400 rebel in some way. My rebellion of choice was just 0:04:51.480 --> 0:04:56.680 too uh, you know, not work hard to sort of 0:04:56.720 --> 0:05:00.000 like I think I had a lot of talent um 0:05:00.080 --> 0:05:02.440 and you know, I always tested well, but I didn't 0:05:02.440 --> 0:05:04.920 do well in school, if that makes sense. I just didn't. 0:05:05.279 --> 0:05:10.080 I didn't. I didn't apply myself and I didn't I 0:05:10.120 --> 0:05:12.320 didn't do it was necessary. And also I didn't know 0:05:12.360 --> 0:05:14.480 what I wanted to do. I didn't even know what 0:05:14.520 --> 0:05:16.640 I was into. And after high school I moved to 0:05:16.640 --> 0:05:18.560 San Diego. I worked on a fishing boat for a while, 0:05:18.600 --> 0:05:20.640 and I enjoyed it because I was making my own way, 0:05:20.720 --> 0:05:23.839 kind of doing it my way. Um, but I didn't, 0:05:24.040 --> 0:05:27.159 you know, I wasn't really ready for college. I took 0:05:27.160 --> 0:05:30.520 some firefighting classes, was sort of interested in that, but 0:05:30.720 --> 0:05:34.160 not really. It was like, that's an honorable job. I'm nineteen, 0:05:34.200 --> 0:05:36.040 I'm a kid. I don't feel like I have an 0:05:36.040 --> 0:05:40.160 honorable bone in my body. I can't be a firefighter. Um. 0:05:40.240 --> 0:05:43.279 And so I just sort of turned away from that too, 0:05:43.320 --> 0:05:46.920 and then eventually found myself in Los Angeles, as he said, 0:05:46.960 --> 0:05:51.000 interested in in show business and film and television, like storytelling. 0:05:51.000 --> 0:05:54.000 It was something that I thought it was cool. It 0:05:54.120 --> 0:05:56.440 was like, man, I don't have a cool story myself, 0:05:56.720 --> 0:05:59.000 but if I could tell other people's stories, you know, 0:05:59.040 --> 0:06:00.920 how cool is that? And that's where that sort of 0:06:01.000 --> 0:06:06.560 initially came from. Um, and then happened. I mean, yeah, 0:06:06.640 --> 0:06:09.680 I was. It was very early in the morning. I 0:06:09.720 --> 0:06:12.279 was living in this little, small apartment and I answered 0:06:12.279 --> 0:06:13.840 the phone and with my mom on the other line, 0:06:13.839 --> 0:06:15.919 and she's, you know, just telling me to turn the 0:06:15.960 --> 0:06:17.719 TV on. And I flipped it on, and you know, 0:06:17.760 --> 0:06:20.559 I saw what so many of us saw. One tower, 0:06:20.560 --> 0:06:22.680 I believe was already down, the other one was engulfed 0:06:22.680 --> 0:06:25.479 in flames, and it was just like what am I 0:06:25.520 --> 0:06:29.160 looking at? Kind of had a loss for words, like 0:06:29.200 --> 0:06:30.720 I feel like I am right now. Even every time 0:06:30.760 --> 0:06:33.640 I try to take myself back to that day and 0:06:33.760 --> 0:06:35.560 envision that, and I'm just sitting there watching it on 0:06:35.600 --> 0:06:39.640 a nineteen TV screen. I cannot imagine being there. Um, 0:06:40.200 --> 0:06:43.520 it was just this shock and like what the one 0:06:43.520 --> 0:06:45.080 of the first things that really hit me is like 0:06:45.120 --> 0:06:48.520 what are you doing with your life? Like? Who? What 0:06:48.640 --> 0:06:53.159 are you a part of? Do you even have a 0:06:53.240 --> 0:06:57.080 care in the world? I mean, do you like you're here? 0:06:57.400 --> 0:06:59.599 We're all here. I and I even believe that this 0:06:59.640 --> 0:07:01.960 at the time. Amazingly We're out here for some type 0:07:01.960 --> 0:07:05.240 of reason, but what is your reason? Like, what what 0:07:05.320 --> 0:07:09.360 are you doing? Look around, look at yourself and figure 0:07:09.400 --> 0:07:15.240 out where you can do something, uh, somewhat positive or impactful. 0:07:16.200 --> 0:07:20.960 And eventually that that uh, that took me overseas and 0:07:21.320 --> 0:07:25.320 doing some relief work after a couple of years of 0:07:25.400 --> 0:07:29.160 kind of just searching, you know, traveling is whenever I 0:07:29.200 --> 0:07:31.800 could work odd jobs, save my money up and then 0:07:31.800 --> 0:07:34.360 go back backing somewhere and just try to figure out 0:07:34.400 --> 0:07:36.800 where is my place in the world. And I ended 0:07:36.880 --> 0:07:38.679 up I was doing some relief work in the Darfur 0:07:39.920 --> 0:07:43.320 and it really changed my life. That trip and being 0:07:43.360 --> 0:07:46.040 around people that actolutely had nothing. But we're just so 0:07:46.280 --> 0:07:51.120 enamored with Americans and so grateful that someone would leave 0:07:51.680 --> 0:07:55.440 their country of relative safety as we have in the 0:07:55.480 --> 0:07:59.720 United States to go to Sudan and Chad and the 0:07:59.800 --> 0:08:03.400 dark of her and working a refugee camp, even though 0:08:03.440 --> 0:08:06.000 it was just for a short trip, but it you know, 0:08:06.800 --> 0:08:09.280 they were so grateful that And I wasn't doing anything special. 0:08:09.320 --> 0:08:13.000 I was just um helping pass out food rations, playing 0:08:13.000 --> 0:08:15.800 soccer with the kids, you know, assisting in the medical centers, 0:08:15.800 --> 0:08:19.360 like simple stuff. Anybody could have done. And it was 0:08:19.400 --> 0:08:21.520 towards the end of that trip that I got I 0:08:21.600 --> 0:08:25.280 got malaria, and this local family put me up and 0:08:25.280 --> 0:08:28.560 and and I'm lying on this cop they set up 0:08:28.600 --> 0:08:30.240 for me in this in this in their mud hut, 0:08:30.960 --> 0:08:33.560 and listening to the radio they put next to the 0:08:33.600 --> 0:08:37.440 cot and the Second Battle of Felujah was playing on 0:08:37.520 --> 0:08:41.840 the BBC network, And it was like a sign for me. 0:08:41.880 --> 0:08:44.800 It was just I don't know, I don't know if 0:08:44.840 --> 0:08:53.360 it was divine intervention or just luck or randomness that 0:08:52.880 --> 0:08:57.720 that this moment and where I was at physically and 0:08:57.760 --> 0:09:00.520 mentally kind of came together for this perfect which just 0:09:00.559 --> 0:09:03.120 like I had clarity of what I was to do 0:09:03.240 --> 0:09:04.839 next all of a sudden, and it was it was 0:09:04.880 --> 0:09:07.240 gonna was gonna join the military. So I came home 0:09:07.280 --> 0:09:10.199 and signed up, you know, and I went to a 0:09:10.240 --> 0:09:13.360 refugee camp when I in Rwanda. And you know, saying 0:09:13.360 --> 0:09:16.040 stuff like that really does shape the way you look 0:09:16.080 --> 0:09:17.800 at life, shape that you know, you come back to 0:09:17.880 --> 0:09:20.520 America and it just really changes the way you think 0:09:20.600 --> 0:09:23.719 and you just see life. You know, it creates a 0:09:23.720 --> 0:09:26.360 different prism in which you view the world. You know, 0:09:26.400 --> 0:09:28.520 So you talked about you know, you went then joined 0:09:28.559 --> 0:09:30.520 the military. When you came back to the United States, 0:09:30.559 --> 0:09:33.920 you went through the Army Special Forces eteen X ray program. 0:09:33.960 --> 0:09:37.880 Is that correct? And then so talk about that because 0:09:37.960 --> 0:09:40.360 my understanding is, you know, it took you went through 0:09:40.360 --> 0:09:42.559 about a year and a half for the Special Forces 0:09:42.600 --> 0:09:46.560 selection process, something that only handful handful of people were 0:09:46.600 --> 0:09:49.360 able to do. That must have been incredibly intense. Then 0:09:50.360 --> 0:09:52.160 do you remember that and then kind of going through 0:09:52.160 --> 0:09:56.040 that process yet you know it wasn't I mean, it 0:09:56.080 --> 0:09:57.760 was intense, and I think I think some of the 0:09:57.800 --> 0:10:01.080 more intense parts of it were just the fact that 0:10:01.640 --> 0:10:04.760 I was now, you know, in the military at all. 0:10:04.880 --> 0:10:11.400 I mean, to go from never really considering it genuinely, uh, 0:10:11.840 --> 0:10:14.720 that I would do this with my life, and feeling 0:10:14.920 --> 0:10:22.000 feeling pretty disconnected from that world, uh, and just not 0:10:22.200 --> 0:10:25.040 understanding what it would be like. And you know, you 0:10:25.880 --> 0:10:28.360 see what you see in movies and TV shows, and 0:10:28.720 --> 0:10:31.480 you hear what you hear, whether it's through the news 0:10:31.600 --> 0:10:34.720 or through you know, second hand third hand accounts, not 0:10:34.720 --> 0:10:36.840 not so much people that have been there, especially at 0:10:36.840 --> 0:10:40.760 that time. I mean, this was in two thousand and four, so, um, 0:10:40.800 --> 0:10:44.440 we've only been at war for a little over two years. 0:10:44.840 --> 0:10:48.040 Maybe into three years, and so I didn't I didn't 0:10:48.040 --> 0:10:49.880 know anybody that was on active duty that had been 0:10:49.960 --> 0:10:52.360 to Iraq Afghanistan, like I didn't know who to talk 0:10:52.440 --> 0:10:54.400 to you like to ask. I just didn't know much 0:10:54.400 --> 0:10:57.000 about it. But I just felt compelled to go do 0:10:57.080 --> 0:11:00.320 something and uh, you know, fight for those they can't 0:11:00.320 --> 0:11:04.600 fight for themselves, much like I experienced with those people 0:11:04.640 --> 0:11:08.640 and in the Darfur Um. Of course, during the military, 0:11:08.679 --> 0:11:12.120 quite different than volunteering at a refugee camp. Uh. So, 0:11:12.440 --> 0:11:15.960 I you know, I'd read about the Special Forces, the 0:11:15.960 --> 0:11:18.480 at Extray program as you mentioned, and I read about 0:11:18.480 --> 0:11:22.440 the Special Forces mission. The Green Berets motto was Dave 0:11:22.520 --> 0:11:26.640 press Alibert, which meant to free the oppressed, And you 0:11:26.679 --> 0:11:30.240 know that that sort of spoke to me like nothing 0:11:30.240 --> 0:11:36.760 else really did. Within the military construct, I was doing 0:11:36.800 --> 0:11:39.000 some research and just trying to figure out, like where 0:11:39.840 --> 0:11:42.480 what's going to be the right job for me, Like 0:11:42.559 --> 0:11:47.640 what is going to make the most sense um And 0:11:47.720 --> 0:11:50.800 beyond the idea of being in an elite unit such 0:11:50.840 --> 0:11:54.200 as that, um, it was the piece of the mission 0:11:54.240 --> 0:11:59.280 that the Special Forces in the Army, what they actually do. 0:11:59.400 --> 0:12:03.520 There was a humanitarian element to the job. Foreign Internal 0:12:03.520 --> 0:12:06.439 defense is what it's called. And essentially, I mean when 0:12:06.440 --> 0:12:11.680 you go over there to Iraq, Afghanistan, your your training, UM, 0:12:11.720 --> 0:12:17.800 you're often living with UM and fighting alongside host nationals 0:12:17.800 --> 0:12:21.040 so Afghans or Iraqis depending on where you are, and 0:12:21.280 --> 0:12:23.839 they in a sense become your brothers in arms as well. 0:12:24.080 --> 0:12:27.120 And it's UM. It's it's a very different experience than 0:12:27.880 --> 0:12:32.400 much of the military was a part of at the time. 0:12:32.520 --> 0:12:36.320 You know, over the year, the years, the two decades 0:12:36.400 --> 0:12:39.360 really of war, much of the military sort of adopted 0:12:39.360 --> 0:12:41.480 what the special forces were already doing, that we're working 0:12:41.520 --> 0:12:44.920 with partner forces UM. And eventually as that mission developed 0:12:44.920 --> 0:12:49.160 into a train advised assist mission, you know that they 0:12:49.160 --> 0:12:51.760 were they were doing a lot of what the special 0:12:51.760 --> 0:12:53.600 forces were doing from the very beginning, and the special 0:12:53.640 --> 0:12:57.680 forces had been doing since Vietnam really UM. But but 0:12:57.800 --> 0:13:00.840 that part of it really kind of sucked out to me, like, 0:13:00.880 --> 0:13:02.960 all right, well, if I'm in Iraq, if I'm gonna 0:13:02.960 --> 0:13:05.959 Afghanistan and I'm doing this job and I'm carrying out 0:13:06.000 --> 0:13:10.640 these orders and I'm I'm at war, uh, at least 0:13:10.880 --> 0:13:13.360 I'm doing so alongside the people that are going to 0:13:13.400 --> 0:13:15.160 be living there. The people that are trying to rebuild 0:13:15.160 --> 0:13:19.360 their own country as well, and that, UM, that was 0:13:19.400 --> 0:13:21.280 of interest to me because I was, like, I mean, 0:13:22.000 --> 0:13:23.520 at the end of the day, that was I think 0:13:23.600 --> 0:13:26.719 part of the ultimate goal, like instilling some pride in 0:13:26.760 --> 0:13:29.600 those in those people and trying to give them a 0:13:29.600 --> 0:13:32.800 fighting chance to defend their own country. Of course, as 0:13:32.840 --> 0:13:34.800 we all know now, that comes with a great amount 0:13:34.840 --> 0:13:38.440 of complication, and UM, it's certainly not an easy mission 0:13:38.480 --> 0:13:43.040 and the lack of resources and honestly, like just that 0:13:44.400 --> 0:13:47.960 the lack of um pride that a lot of them 0:13:48.080 --> 0:13:50.320 have much different than we do you have here in 0:13:50.320 --> 0:13:55.280 the States. It was just an extremely challenging mission, and UM, 0:13:55.320 --> 0:13:57.560 I definitely want everybody listening that was a part of 0:13:57.600 --> 0:14:01.400 that to understand, Um, feel like you did your best 0:14:01.400 --> 0:14:02.960 and we get everything that we could, but it was 0:14:03.040 --> 0:14:08.520 just one of those things that is so much of 0:14:08.520 --> 0:14:10.120 it is out of our hands and I don't want 0:14:10.120 --> 0:14:15.040 to devolved into that conversation necessarily, but um, you know, 0:14:15.160 --> 0:14:18.320 but I mean that was for me working alongside those 0:14:18.320 --> 0:14:21.400 people that that Special Forces mission really stuck out to 0:14:21.400 --> 0:14:24.200 me and really spoke to me, and that's, um, that 0:14:24.320 --> 0:14:25.800 was what I wanted to do. That was. It was 0:14:25.880 --> 0:14:28.520 like kind of special forces of bust for me, quick 0:14:28.520 --> 0:14:36.200 break more with Nate. Do you feel like doing all this, 0:14:36.520 --> 0:14:38.360 I have found my mission in life? Because you had 0:14:38.360 --> 0:14:41.120 previously talked about you know, kind of originally when you're 0:14:41.120 --> 0:14:43.280 a younger, a young man, not really you know, kind 0:14:43.280 --> 0:14:44.880 of feeling like you didn't know what your mission in 0:14:44.920 --> 0:14:47.720 life was and sort of just figuring that out. Did 0:14:47.840 --> 0:14:50.040 this just sort of solidify that this is my mission 0:14:50.080 --> 0:14:54.160 in life? I think definitely. At the time at least 0:14:54.160 --> 0:14:56.440 it was it was like, well, at least for now, 0:14:56.840 --> 0:15:00.280 I feel, um, I feel like I do have a 0:15:00.320 --> 0:15:02.800 specific mission, and I feel like you have a responsibility. 0:15:02.840 --> 0:15:04.680 I mean that's part of what I needed that I 0:15:04.680 --> 0:15:09.160 didn't know was I needed some responsibility beyond taking care 0:15:09.200 --> 0:15:13.400 of myself. I needed something to um to feel like 0:15:13.440 --> 0:15:15.800 I was building, uh, you know, with a team or 0:15:16.000 --> 0:15:19.520 or like a machine that I was an essential part of. 0:15:19.560 --> 0:15:22.800 And like if I wasn't there, if this cog called 0:15:22.880 --> 0:15:26.160 Nate was missing, the train went a run on time, 0:15:26.480 --> 0:15:27.840 you know what I mean. Like, I think that we 0:15:27.920 --> 0:15:31.200 all seek that, whether we know it or not. In 0:15:31.240 --> 0:15:32.840 some way, we want to feel like the matter and 0:15:32.960 --> 0:15:35.480 belong and all that stuff. I just didn't know that's 0:15:35.520 --> 0:15:38.400 what it was. And so at this time, you know, 0:15:38.480 --> 0:15:41.240 for the first time, really especially once I had the 0:15:41.240 --> 0:15:44.360 opportunity to go overseas and you're part of this twelve 0:15:44.400 --> 0:15:48.720 man team. Um. You know, there's a lot of responsibility 0:15:48.760 --> 0:15:51.600 on your shoulders. You've got the men on your left 0:15:51.640 --> 0:15:53.840 and right that you have to rely on, but they 0:15:53.880 --> 0:15:57.520 rely on you as well, UM. And you just felt 0:15:57.560 --> 0:16:02.360 that connection to something figured than yourself and that yet 0:16:02.400 --> 0:16:07.280 that strong sense of purpose, um, that I hadn't felt before. 0:16:07.760 --> 0:16:11.160 And you know, you developed this tightness with these people. 0:16:11.160 --> 0:16:14.840 I mean, I remember some of the conversations you have, 0:16:15.960 --> 0:16:18.560 for instance, on my first deployment to Iraq with people 0:16:18.600 --> 0:16:22.320 that I barely knew before we left, and you know, 0:16:22.400 --> 0:16:25.720 within weeks were sitting around the firepit up on the 0:16:25.800 --> 0:16:30.440 rooftop between missions and We're talking about We're sharing things 0:16:30.480 --> 0:16:34.120 I've never shared with anybody else before, about my you know, 0:16:34.440 --> 0:16:39.200 my my path, my future, my dreams, what uh what 0:16:39.200 --> 0:16:42.800 what I what I what I care about, why I'm here. 0:16:42.840 --> 0:16:45.320 I mean things that I'm much more open and vulnerable 0:16:45.320 --> 0:16:49.080 with today, willing to talk about with almost anybody. But 0:16:49.240 --> 0:16:51.040 you know at the time that was just not something 0:16:51.080 --> 0:16:55.120 I ever really did. You just feel this bond um 0:16:55.120 --> 0:16:59.720 that is unbreakable, not really and uh and it's crazy 0:16:59.720 --> 0:17:02.200 because some of these people even today, like I don't 0:17:02.240 --> 0:17:04.639 I won't talk to them for years and then we 0:17:04.680 --> 0:17:09.119 reconnect and it's like that, there's never that kind of 0:17:09.240 --> 0:17:12.200 small talk, awkward catchup. It's just like right back where 0:17:12.240 --> 0:17:16.439 we were, um, which is really really crazy. So so 0:17:16.480 --> 0:17:18.800 that was just, you know, that was something that I 0:17:18.920 --> 0:17:20.760 never really had before. I mean I thought, you know, 0:17:20.760 --> 0:17:23.120 I played sports growing up, and of course you've got 0:17:23.119 --> 0:17:25.000 your teams and all that, but even at the high 0:17:25.000 --> 0:17:26.960 school level, it's just very different. I mean, you're a 0:17:27.000 --> 0:17:30.480 high school kid too, UM, but there's just not that 0:17:31.480 --> 0:17:35.320 that level of connection and ending understanding that everything you 0:17:35.359 --> 0:17:38.880 do on a daily basis work wise too, it's life 0:17:38.960 --> 0:17:41.600 or death. Like the stakes are so high. I mean 0:17:41.600 --> 0:17:45.560 you have to execute, um. You got to do your 0:17:45.640 --> 0:17:48.720 job at the at the highest level in the in 0:17:48.760 --> 0:17:51.919 the most efficient way possible, UM, in the most creative 0:17:51.920 --> 0:17:54.280 way possible. At times as well, because of the lack 0:17:54.320 --> 0:17:57.960 of resources and UM, sometimes the mission that's ticketd to 0:17:58.040 --> 0:18:00.399 us isn't super clear, and we got to if we 0:18:00.400 --> 0:18:03.280 had to figure it out all those things. Uh, it's 0:18:03.440 --> 0:18:08.040 it's really interesting, um to just be around it and 0:18:08.400 --> 0:18:12.879 to um to have your your best friends also be 0:18:12.880 --> 0:18:15.919 your heroes and your mentors and stuff like that. Um, 0:18:16.200 --> 0:18:18.480 it was it was quite a unique experience. I mean, 0:18:18.480 --> 0:18:21.080 I can't imagine having that kind of responsibility on your 0:18:21.119 --> 0:18:23.959 shoulders at such a young age. I would imagine that 0:18:24.280 --> 0:18:27.520 just leads to an incredible amount of camaraderie with the 0:18:27.560 --> 0:18:31.439 people that you're serving alongside. And what's interesting is, you know, 0:18:31.440 --> 0:18:33.600 we'll get into this a little bit later in the conversation, 0:18:33.720 --> 0:18:36.560 but you know, and then you went on to go 0:18:36.640 --> 0:18:39.600 to the University of Texas. You walked on to the 0:18:39.600 --> 0:18:42.160 football team, and this will eventually kind of marry these 0:18:42.200 --> 0:18:45.640 different worlds that you've lived in, you know, a veteran 0:18:45.760 --> 0:18:50.000 as well as an athlete. But talk about walking onto 0:18:50.000 --> 0:18:53.280 the University of Texas. You went on to actually become 0:18:53.320 --> 0:18:56.040 a starting long snapper, but kind of talk about that 0:18:56.119 --> 0:18:58.040 journey and then when you got done with the military 0:18:58.080 --> 0:19:02.320 and then you know, turning to football. Yeah, that that was. 0:19:02.840 --> 0:19:06.520 It was definitely an interesting and interesting turn and one 0:19:06.560 --> 0:19:11.560 that I I struggled with and still do at times, 0:19:12.000 --> 0:19:15.320 you know, with some of the the guilt of sort 0:19:15.359 --> 0:19:20.320 of leaving UM, the military. I think a lot of 0:19:21.080 --> 0:19:22.920 a lot of service members, a lot of war fighters 0:19:23.280 --> 0:19:26.000 feel that, and that's why some of them can't leave, 0:19:26.400 --> 0:19:29.959 you know, some of them stay in for decades. A 0:19:29.960 --> 0:19:34.280 lot of it is like beyond them genuinely enjoying what 0:19:34.320 --> 0:19:37.000 they do or feeling that sense of purpose. It's the 0:19:37.680 --> 0:19:39.879 I can't leave these people behind, like I'm a part 0:19:39.920 --> 0:19:43.200 of this now, UM. And that includes the people also 0:19:43.200 --> 0:19:47.960 wearing camouflage that you're that you're brothers in arms with, 0:19:48.080 --> 0:19:51.720 but also the people overseas you know that you're meant 0:19:51.720 --> 0:19:55.040 to depend I think that that that's a tough one. 0:19:55.200 --> 0:19:59.320 And I was actually towards the end of a deployment 0:19:59.640 --> 0:20:04.040 were season. I was eight years old and trying to 0:20:04.080 --> 0:20:06.399 figure out what I was gonna do next, you know, 0:20:06.600 --> 0:20:10.240 with my life, and UM, I finally had this desire 0:20:10.280 --> 0:20:13.400 to go to college and and even bigger than that, 0:20:13.520 --> 0:20:16.040 even though it sounds smaller than that and more childish, 0:20:16.280 --> 0:20:21.919 I had this desire dream of playing football. I've actually 0:20:21.960 --> 0:20:25.600 never played. Growing up, I played baseball, I played basketball, 0:20:25.600 --> 0:20:27.760 I played pretty much every other sport you can imagine, 0:20:27.800 --> 0:20:31.440 but I never played football, and I regretted it because 0:20:31.440 --> 0:20:33.200 it was my favorite sport. You know, when I was 0:20:33.280 --> 0:20:35.680 real little, my mom didn't necessarily want me to play, 0:20:35.760 --> 0:20:40.000 and um and as I grew u and had that opportunity, 0:20:40.160 --> 0:20:42.960 even in middle school, I think I was just afraid 0:20:43.040 --> 0:20:47.800 that I would get cut or I'd ride the bench 0:20:47.920 --> 0:20:51.000 or whatever. You know, I put way too much stock 0:20:51.200 --> 0:20:54.040 in sports as a as a kid, Like it meant 0:20:54.080 --> 0:20:57.000 way too much to my life. Um, sort of my 0:20:57.080 --> 0:21:02.040 life revolved around it. And uh, and you know, it's 0:21:02.200 --> 0:21:03.960 it's at the end of the day, like sports are 0:21:04.040 --> 0:21:07.040 very important and a huge part of our culture. And 0:21:07.840 --> 0:21:09.520 you know, obviously we just had the World Cup and 0:21:09.560 --> 0:21:12.280 you could just you know, that's a worldwide thing as 0:21:12.320 --> 0:21:15.359 well on the way that that those events bring people together. 0:21:15.800 --> 0:21:20.280 But but also, um, yeah, I just I put way 0:21:20.320 --> 0:21:22.720 too much pressure on myself around that stuff. And now 0:21:22.760 --> 0:21:24.880 at this age, you know, I'm twenty about to turn 0:21:24.920 --> 0:21:28.240 twenty nine. Uh, I'm just like, you know, what just 0:21:28.280 --> 0:21:35.480 goes you weren't the youngest player. I was certainly No, 0:21:35.680 --> 0:21:37.679 I was, you know, I was I was the oldest. 0:21:38.080 --> 0:21:39.600 I was the oldest guy on the team. I was 0:21:40.560 --> 0:21:42.600 probably the oldest player in college football at the time, 0:21:43.680 --> 0:21:46.080 although I did see a story a couple of days 0:21:46.119 --> 0:21:48.919 ago there was a player that's I think he's thirty 0:21:49.000 --> 0:21:52.520 now that's uh playing He was playing at Buffalo. He 0:21:52.680 --> 0:21:55.119 was a main form of ABC and he's playing football Buffalo. 0:21:55.160 --> 0:21:57.000 I think it's a year though, but that's pretty cool. 0:21:57.640 --> 0:21:59.760 Um anyway, Yeah, so I just I was like, you know, 0:21:59.760 --> 0:22:03.200 I just go for it. So I I got out, 0:22:03.240 --> 0:22:04.920 I came off of active duty. He ended up reing 0:22:04.960 --> 0:22:06.920 listening in the National Guard. So I was still in 0:22:06.960 --> 0:22:10.000 the military while I was at Texas UM and did 0:22:10.040 --> 0:22:13.600 deploy a couple of times while in college even but 0:22:14.040 --> 0:22:16.199