Nate Boyer honored, surprised by teammates, Allstate

8/10/2019 Nate Boyer honored, surprised by teammates, Allstate

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Boyer honored, surprised by teammates, Allstate

Texas long snapper Nate Boyer walked in to the players lounge in the

Moncrief-Neuhaus Athletic Center on what seemed to be a customary Friday

afternoon. Every week, patients from the Dell Childrens Medical Center,

along with some of their parents, are welcomed into the headquarters of

Texas football by numerous players and a few coaches. Boyer, who

frequently visits and interacts with the children at the Medical Center, knows

many of the children who are present already. What he does not know, is on

this Friday, hes in for a little surprise.


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On Sept. 23, Boyer was named to the 2014 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team,

joining former Longhorns Emmanuel Acho, Sam Acho, Colt McCoy, Vince

Young, Ricky Williams, Tyson King, Tony Brackens and Robert Reed who

were all previously named to the Good Works team. Boyer is part of the 22-

member team that consists of 11 FBS players who were selected out of 182

possible candidates.


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The children from the Medical Center engage in pool with some of the

players. Some feast upon the free cookies that were there for the taking,

while others seek out autographs on their footballs, posters and T-shirts.

Boyer meanwhile is taking the time to talk to two young boys about their

favorite sport, which is of course, football. His meeting is interrupted by Ken

Rucker, who calls attention to everyone in the lounge. Rucker was the first

person Boyer talked to about trying out for the football team. Rucker and a

representative from Allstate present Boyer with his honor in front of his

teammates, media and the children from the Medical Center. Boyer seems to

be the only one in the room who did not know what was coming.

They snuck this one on me, itwas a surprise, I had no idea, Boyer said.

Boyer took part in the Green Beret Special Forces unit of the United States

Military. Following his time, he received a Bronze Star for his service. He still

makes himself available to the National Guard in the summer. He was

instrumental in the creation of the student organization, Caring for Camo,

which sends care packages to soldiers and hosts events that benefit

wounded veterans. He also speaks to the children of military parents

stationed at Fort Hood in his spare time.


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Im not going to say Im a role model. I make bad decisions, Boyer said.

All Im trying to do is make people realize its not all about football. As

much as we love this game. It is just a game.

Boyer has made his presence felt within the Texas Football program, and

within the community. However, for him, the true reward isnt in the form of

the Allstate plaque he was presented with.

The reward is doing stuff in the community and helping people out.

Knowing that at least once in a while, you make a difference, Boyer said.

Being recognized, [is goodbecause] its recognizing a lot of soldiers and

college football players. Ive been inspired by a lot of things in my life. So

being able to go out and inspire other people to follow their dreams. A lot of

times my dreams consist of going out and helping other people.


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Boyer seems to be making those dreams come true.

Eleven players are chosen for the Good Works team from the FBS, while 11

others are chosen from the FCS. Yet, Boyer stood above the rest.

The reason Nate was chosen, hes just an all-around good guy. People just

seem to migrate towards him, said Harley Alloway, local Allstate agent that

presented Boyer with the award. Nate was the shining star of the 182

nominees. He cares, but he does something about it.


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Boyers teammates chanted speech after he was presented with his award.

Boyer handled the situation as he would any other scenario on or off the

field when he addressed everyone in the lounge. He shrugged off the praise,

and shifted the focus to something bigger than himself. He targeted the

attention back to the reason he attended the surprise in the first place, the

children.

For you kids, I really appreciate you coming up here, but also letting us

come there and hang out with you guys, Boyer said in his speech. I know

for some of you it might be special to be a football player. For a lot of us its

cool to come back down to earth and realize that going out on Saturday and

playing a game, its fun. And sometimes we dont deserve it. We can take

that for granted sometimes, seeing what you guys are fighting through and

some stuff you guys are going through and have to overcome, its inspiring.

Thank you guys for your fight, and I appreciate it.


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Nate Boyer honored, surprised by teammates, Allstate