Long snapper Nate Boyer, Army veteran, respects Kaepernick’s protest

Army veteran Nate Boyer respects Colin Kaepernick’s decision to sit for the national anthem.

Army veteran Nate Boyer, a free-agent long snapper, said Tuesday that he supports and respects Colin Kaepernick’s decision to protest during the national anthem.

Boyer joined SportsCenter and said that he understands where the 49ers quarterback is coming from, backing up an open letter he wrote to Kaepernick on Monday.

“I’ll be honest, my initial response was anger,” Boyer said. “And I stopped. I stopped myself, and I took a breath and tried to listen and understand. There are so many different perspectives. ...The knee-jerk reactions that are happening in our country right now. When somebody says something and speaks their mind, and just believes something, it’s not helping anything. It’s not solving any problems, because it’s not a conversation. It’s a yelling match. So I stopped myself and just listened to why, and what, and I understand.”

“Not only does he have every right to do that, I respect him.”

Kaepernick chose not to stand for the national anthem last Friday due to his belief that racial discrimination exists in America. He said Sunday that he will continue to sit for the anthem.

Boyer played at Texas and was signed to the Seattle Seahawks’ practice squad last season.