Nate Boyer’s veteran-player charity loses sponsor over past Kaepernick tie

Nate Boyer, a former NFL long snapper and Green Beret, founded the MVP foundation to help veterans and ex-players transition after sports, and had arranged a season-long college-football activation backed by a five-figure sponsorship. The sponsor withdrew after its legal team discovered Boyer’s 2016 meeting with Colin Kaepernick, who was then beginning his national-anthem protests. Boyer explains his early misinterpretation of the protest, his later understanding after hearing Kaepernick’s full interview, and a later face-to-face conversation in San Diego where they, along with Eric Reid, discussed kneeling as a compromise.

The foundation’s plans were halted, and Boyer faced a flood of messages ranging from support to accusations of disrespect toward the flag. He witnessed a hostile crowd reaction during a pre-game ceremony in San Diego, which he found more disrespectful than the protest itself. Boyer notes Kaepernick’s career decline, the ambiguous reasons behind it, and his own continued work on veteran-focused projects, hoping history will view the protest as patriotic courage.