SB Nation

Nate Boyer: De Oppresso Liber

Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

If you're a Longhorn, read this. Then pass it on.

A fantastic piece about Longhorn Nate Boyer.  If you thought you knew Boyer's story, you don't.  There are details about Boyer's background and experiences overseas that I had no idea about.  Lost wanderer, relief worker in Darfur, Green Beret, Longhorn.

This may have been the last time before returning to college football that he was nearly killed but it was hardly the first. Back in 2008, working out of Najaf, Iraq, just days into his first run with the 10th Special Forces Group, an IED took out the vehicle directly in front of his.

As Boyer scrambled in the aftermath to provide security, he smelled what he thought was burning chicken from a barbecue only to see a medic scraping ash off the charred torso of an American soldier.

"First week," he said. "I thought, 'OK, this is real.' "

This a beautifully written piece by Dan Wetzel about a man I respect deeply.  Read it.  If you're not inspired by his search for meaning, challenge and communion, seek help.

Hook 'em, Nate.

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