Page 137 - OVATION Magazine (Issue 1)

FALL 2019
OVATION |143
THE GOOD FIGHT
It’s a question his friends and colleagues could ask of themselves, as well. Nate Boyer, who cofounded the MergingVets & Players, or MVP, foundation with Glazer in 2015 (see “The MVP Connection,” page 140), first met him at Unbreakable as a 34-year-old aspiring professional football player.“So you’re trying to play in the NFL?” Glazer recalls asking him. “You’ve got gray in your beard.”
After hearing Boyer’s story about serving as a Green Beret for a decade, walking on at the University of Texas as a long snapper, and dreaming of going pro, Glazer threw his full weight and resources into making him the old- est rookie in NFL history.“I said to him,‘I see what you’ve done, but I don’t know what you can’t do, so let’s go walk this walk together.’ ”
“He likes offbeat stories, gritty stories, people who have an alternative route,” says Boyer, who eventually signed with the Seattle Seahawks.“Jay does not take the traditional path. He grinded for a long time, worked his ass off. As he describes himself, he’s a five- foot-seven Jew from New Jersey—not this great athlete, not the typical journalist.”
He’s not the typical foundation leader, ei- ther. Disturbed by the alarming suicide trends among both pro athletes and combat vets, Glazer and Boyer are trying to change the narrative about PTSD and depression.“There’s value in the obstacles,” says Boyer. “Jay always talks about embracing your scars, being proud of what you came from.”
In a way, every day for Glazer involves an element from which he came.Thursday, he might be writing an NFL column, meeting with therapists about mental health, training
at Unbreakable, coaching an MVP session,
and then flying to NewYork to host Bellator MMA at Madison Square Garden.Throughout it all, he’s fueled by a fundamental belief in
the power of people working together.“I use all the tentacles I possibly can to build up our team,” he says, “and our team builds us up, and it continues.”
For more on Jay Glazer and his MVP foun- dation, check out Ovation’s exclusive video at ovationmagazine.com/glazermvp.