Seahawks and the military have a long rich history

The Seahawks have a long history with the military, and there’s no better day than Memorial Day to take a look at their culture of support.

Memorial Day is an occasion to honor those U.S. servicemen and servicewomen  who gave their lives serving their country. The Seahawks have a long history with the U.S. military, including some players.

Being a veteran myself, I don’t like the typical conflation of Memorial Day and Veterans Day. Veterans Day honors those who sacrificed their time. Memorial Day honors an entirely different level of sacrifice. Regardless, it’s a great day to highlight connections between the Seahawks and the military.

Let’s start with two gentlemen who served their country, and played with the Seahawks, even if briefly. The first played more than a decade ago. The second played more recently, and has even been in the news lately.

We salute these Seahawks veterans

Bryce Fisher. An Air Force Academy graduate, Fisher served two years on active duty before he set foot on an NFL field. The defensive end began his career with the Buffalo Bills before moving to St. Louis for three seasons. Fisher joined the Seahawks in 2005. He started 31 games for Seattle and helped them jump from 9-7 to 13-3.

Fisher ended his NFL career with the Tennessee Titans in 2007. He played in a total of 91 games, not too shabby for a seventh round pick who couldn’t start his pro career until two years after graduation. Fisher is still serving his country as a public affairs officer for the Illinois National Guard.

Nate Boyer. Boyer has been in the news recently for his stance on the NFL players protest during the national anthem. He didn’t exactly have the same type of career as Fisher. Considering he walked on at the University of Texas, he made the most of his talent. He walked on after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, by the way.

The Seahawks signed Boyer as an undrafted free agent in 2015. He never got into a regular season game, but he did get in to a preseason game against the Broncos. Seattle released him before the season started, but he did pretty good for a 5’11” walk-on long snapper born in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Boyer now works with different foundations concerned with clean water, veterans’ outreach, and performance behavior.

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Seahawks have a great military outreach program

The Seahawks have a long history of reaching out to military families. With a huge military presence in Tacoma, it makes sense. Whether it’s reaching out to a Gold Star family, visiting the JBLM Warrior Zone, or working with the USO, the Seahawks do their best to support servicemen and servicewomen.

Members of the military return the favor, too. The Sea Hawkers Booster Club has a separate chapter, exclusively for the military. Whether you’re active duty, in the reserves, or a veteran, the Military Sea Hawkers provide great links to American Forces Network coverage, game updates and much more.

As I said, Memorial Day is all about honoring those who fell in service to their country. Nate Boyer weighed in on this and the protests of certain NFL players today on CNN. He’s just one man, of course, and doesn’t claim to represent anyone’s views but his own. But it’s definitely worth hearing his viewpoint.

Next: More on Nate Boyer and his call to action

That ellipsis in the tweet eliminated a key phrase from Boyer. “…respectfully despite our differences…”. Respectfully, despite our differences. Some politicians, and even an NFL owner or two would be wise to take heed of that comment. More than anything, we join all citizens in thanks for the sacrifices made by our servicemen and servicewomen to protect our freedoms here at home.