Nate Boyer has passed tests most never try. He was an Army Green Beret, played Division I football and even earned a spot on an NFL roster.
But he admitted to Task & Purpose he was a “recycle” at Airborne school.
Some of the Task & Purpose team is in Baltimore for the 126th Army-Navy game, talking to veterans and active-duty military members about service, the football rivalry and more. Ahead of the game, they got some time with Nate Boyer.
“There’s nothing like Army-Navy. It’s special,” Boyer told Task & Purpose. “It’s the only game this day for a reason. And it’s the only game where everybody in the crowd knows those men playing on the field will be willing to die for them. And that’s wild! True gladiators, not in the game itself, but in what they’re willing to do for us afterwards.”
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While we had the Green Beret-turned-NFL-player–turned actor, we had him answer five questions only a veteran would ask. We got his takes on MREs (chicken with noodles: good; veggie omelet: bad), no-go moments and other parts of life.
Watch the full interview here:
5 questions for Nate Boyer, Green Beret and former NFL player
1 – What’s the coldest you’ve ever been?
It was in training, it was during the Q-course. It rained the night before, so we were soaked, and then it dropped below freezing, so everybody’s uniforms iced up. I don’t know the exact temp, but it felt a billion below.
2 – What’s a time where everyone did push-ups because of you?
This is a true story! Not only did everybody do pushups because of me, but everybody wanted to kill me. This was in Special Forces selection, back then I wore corrective lenses and I couldn’t find my glasses in the middle of night and had to piss like a race horse. Went outside, didn’t know which direction was the bathroom, and just whipped it out and went. Next to the tent, one of the cadres saw me, woke up the entire selection class, had me go out front and tell them what I did and why I’m a piece of you know what. Somehow I didn’t get peered out, I don’t know how. They probably should have, but yeah, pissing on the rocks.
3 – Where is your happy place when times get tough?
I don’t know if I have a mental happy spot. I think it would just be dreaming about something I love. Maybe if it’s training in the military, maybe I’m dreaming about football or something like that. Big dreamer anyway, at my core. It definitely escalates as I get into a tough spot.
4 – Best and worst MRE?
I’m kind of outside the box on the MREs. I like chicken with noodles, most people are like “wait, what?” But it had the jalapeno cheese spread, it had the peanut butter M&Ms, it had all of the accoutrements that made it so delicious. But I also liked the chicken with noodles meal itself, so chicken with noodles.
The gross one? Ooh, I would say the omelet. The veggie omelet. I think a lot of people would agree, that’s a rough one.
5 – Dumbest no-go you’ve ever had?
I’ve never had a no-go. I mean, I got bit by a brown recluse in the barracks in Airborne School. So I had to recycle Airborne school. So that was a big no-go. That was not fun.
