The Sports Xchange

Nate Boyer, a 34-year-old former Green Beret who played long snapper for the Texas Longhorns, was signed by the Seattle Seahawks immediately after the draft ended Saturday.

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll called him just minutes after the last pick of the seventh round.

“Pretty unbelievable,” Boyer told NFL Network. “I’m just thrilled to get an opportunity.”

Boyer, who is 5 feet 11 and 220 pounds, served several tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and didn’t play football until age 29 while attending the University of Texas. He walked onto the team and managed to claim the long snapper job, practicing the art while on deployment.

Boyer said you can’t compare being in the Army to being in the NFL. But he said, “It’s a huge challenge in itself — the best athletes in the world. Just to get an opportunity and be able to compete — I’m playing for a great team in a great city — I couldn’t be more thrilled just for the chance. That’s all you can ask for. So I’m psyched. I’m real psyched.”