Colin Kaepernick: How meeting NFL quarterback Nate Boyer sparked his decision to take a knee
an open letter from an ex-soldier to Colin Kaepernick, who sat during the playing of the national anthem; the quarterback asked to meet with Nate Boyer, who informed him that kneeling was a more respectful gesture; Boyer: “It’s sad… why can’t you just respect somebody’s opinion?” in response to English supporters jeering players.
The decision by Colin Kaepernick to take a knee during the playing of the national anthem during an NFL preseason game between the Green Bay Packers and the San Francisco 49ers in August of 2016 caused division in both the sport and the American public.
Although Kaepernick has really sat for a number of games, this time it was heavily publicized and met with criticism since the quarterback was going to play for the first time in ten months while wearing a uniform.
Among the people who were outraged was former Green Beret Nate Boyer, a long snapper for the Seattle Seahawks and supporter of the 49ers who became the NFL’s oldest rookie at the age of 34.
Boyer, an army veteran who toured Iraq and Afghanistan after seeing the horrors of the Darfur crisis in 2004, had a significant role in helping Kaepernick decide to start kneeling instead of just sitting.
“I made a snap judgement based on my experiences when I saw Colin sitting on the bench during the national anthem and I read a headline and saw some pictures,” Boyer said in Los Angeles to Sky journalist Greg Milam.
“Because I served in the military and carried a casket covered in an American flag that contained my closest friend, I have a very particular bond with the American flag and the national anthem. When that flag is hoisted, those colors will mean something different to me.
“I was upset, even though I was a major Colin Kaepernick and 49ers fan. However, I was not paying attention to what he was saying.
“It wasn’t even really about the flag or the anthem when I went back and listened to his first complete 18-minute interview in the locker room and heard about why he was doing what he was doing, but also that he had respect for the military and it wasn’t about the military in any way.
