A Look Into the Merging Vets and Players Foundation

Mental health is something that is being addressed now more than ever. Everyone deals with difficult and overwhelming circumstances during their life, which makes it ever-so important that people have the support that they need to be their best selves.

This is why Fox Sports NFL Insider Jay Glazer and Former Green Beret and Seattle Seahawk Nate Boyer founded Merging Vets and Players (MVP) in 2015.

Both founders, Glazer and Boyer, have been committed to helping others throughout their lives.

Glazer has been an NFL Insider for Fox since 2004 and recently opened the Unbreakable Performance Center in California. This gym has become the home to many athletes, actors, and other influential people. Glazer also trains NFL players in mixed martial arts during the offseason.

Glazer has also opened up about his own mental health struggles because he wants to reach others that are dealing with similar challenges. In his book “Unbreakable” Glazer details his career that has been met with depression and anxiety.

Nate Boyer has a unique life journey as well. Boyer did not have a plan coming out of high school, but he knew that he wanted to help people. Boyer did just that by traveling around the world, eventually arriving in Sudan.

Boyer quickly realized the dire situation that those people in Sudan lived in, and Boyer described to The 33rd Team:

“That was the first time that I felt like other people would greatly be affected if I did not show up on time today.”

After traveling the world, Boyer felt compelled to join the armed forces. He told himself: “You are going to fight for those that cannot fight for themselves.”

After serving in the military, Boyer remarkably was a long snapper for the University of Texas and reached the NFL with the Seattle Seahawks.

Boyer eventually became an influential part of Colin Kaepernick kneeling during the National Anthem.

Glazer and Boyer’s vision for MVP involves addressing the challenges that combat veterans and former professional athletes face during their transition to life after the field.

“MVP was created to leverage Jay and Nate’s unique role at the crossroads of all of these warriors. By merging veterans with players, these warriors can benefit from each other's strengths, experience, and abilities to unlock their full potential - and lead their families, communities, and country towards a better future. Merging Vets and Players ensures these men and women know that the challenges they are facing are far more about who they are - Warriors - than what they did in the military or on the field. In reality, that is a title that no one can ever take from you.”

Combat veterans and former professional athletes have made so many sacrifices in their lives and within their former teams, and it is now time that they have a team built to support them. Many struggle to transition into a new mission after leaving their field of battle, and MVP was created to resolve this challenge.

“MVP empowers combat veterans and former professional athletes by connecting them after the uniform comes off; providing them with a new team to assist with transition, promote personal development, and show them they are never alone.”

By bringing together combat veterans and professional athletes and allowing them to grow through physical fitness and peer-to-peer support, the MVP Foundation has been able to transform many lives.

MVP has 2,000-plus program participants in 7 key cities, 92% of members retained annually, and 90% of participants have attended 4+ sessions.