Before the Patriots took over Sunday night, there was the patriotism — with a powerful assist from a Marine Corps veteran amputee and a former Army Green Beret.

As Fox Sports' pre-game festivities for Super Bowl LI wound down, the network aired "Ragged Old Flag," a spot backed by and offering an interpretation of the 1974 Johnny Cash song of the same name. Nate Boyer, the former soldier who played with the Seattle Seahawks as a long snapper in the 2015 preseason and received national attention for his open letter to San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick during the signal-caller's National Anthem controversy, donned camo and a beret for his role in the piece. 

Boyer received an assist from Kirstie Ennis, a Marine helicopter doorgunner and mechanic who lost her left leg above the knee as a result of a helicopter crash in Afghanistan. Both service members are among the participants who spoke in this Fox Sports-produced, behind-the-scenes video on the production:



"It meant a lot to me to be involved with this," Ennis said in the making-of video, adding that doing so "was my way of being able to inspire patriotism again."

Boyer said in the piece that while much of our focus has been on what divides the nation, there are "a lot of people in this country that want to see this thing come back together."

"This project more than anything sort of signifies that to me, and that's why I was proud to be a part of it," he said. 

It may not be the last time the two veterans pair up: Ennis and Boyer are set to climb Mount Kilimanjaro later this year as part of a fundraising effort attached to Waterboys, a group seeking to bring well water to impoverished African communities.

That group is part of the Chris Long Foundation, a nonprofit created by the defensive end whose first year with the New England Patriots, after eight seasons with the then-St. Louis Rams, resulted in a Super Bowl victory.

About Kevin Lilley

Kevin Lilley is the features editor of Military Times.

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