The True, Heartbreaking Meaning Behind David Boreanaz’s 'SEAL Team' Helmet

Though SEAL Team began as a network series on CBS, it eventually made its way to Paramount+ where it became one of those shows that defied the odds. Now in its seventh and final season, the series chronicles the adventures of the elite Bravo Team of U.S. Navy SEALs led by Master Chief Special Warfare Operator Jason Hayes, played to perfection by veteran television actor David Boreanaz. Though you might recognize Boreanaz from his time on the vampire series Angel or the procedural drama Bones, he's made an impressive name for himself in this military thriller, reminding us why he always seems to have consistent work as a leading man. But before we say goodbye to Hayes and his fellow SEALs, let's get back to basics. If you're one of the eagle-eyed fans who has noticed something unique about Hayes' helmet on the show, then you'd be onto something. It turns out, Hayes' trademark helmet originally belonged to the very Navy SEAL who inspired the series in the first place.

David Boreanaz Wears an Actual SEAL Helmet To Honor Real-Life Heroes

Unlike many of the props worn by the cast members of SEAL Team, the helmet that sits on Boreanaz's head is a legitimate military issue meant to honor the real-life heroes whom he represents on screen. Having played some pretty notable television characters throughout his career, Boreanaz has made it clear that his work on SEAL Team is by far his most personal. "[Jason Hayes] is really important to me," the actor told Parade in 2019. "Playing him, I feel more in tune as I’ve ever been with a character." But there's more to the helmet's history than just its authenticity. It turns out that the helmet that Hayes wears on SEAL Team actually belongs to a real-life SEAL who goes by the pen name Mark Owen.

An executive producer on the series, Owen was the one who pitched the idea for the show to the network in the first place. Before pursuing SEAL Team, Owen fought overseas as a SEAL, with his most notable mission taking place in the Middle East where he was a part of the assassination of terrorist leader Osama bin Laden. In fact, after his experience in the military, he wrote No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission that Killed Osama bin Laden, a memoir published in 2012 about his 14-year career as a Navy SEAL. To say that Owen has an impressive resume is underselling it. His commitment to his country was the primary source of inspiration for SEAL Team, and without him, the show would never have gotten made — or at least wouldn't have maintained the same sort of authenticity.

"I wear his helmet," Boreanaz continued. "I could wear a lighter [prop] helmet, but I decided to wear his actual helmet to honor him, and I will do that throughout the whole series of its run." Given that SEAL Team has been on since 2017, David Boreanaz's commitment to the show and honoring the vets he's representing is commendable. Though SEAL Team wasn't the first series about Navy SEALs that made its rounds on television in the late 2010s (the first was History Channel's Six, though that was a limited venture), it's been the most successful by far. Not even Jack Carr's The Terminal List has quite caught up with SEAL Team's impressive seven seasons, even if there are seven installments in the military thriller book series. Not only does Boreanaz's latest show help to share the experiences and stories of these men and women on a mission, but it also highlights the emotional and deeply personal conflicts that soldiers face upon coming home.

'SEAL Team' Aims To Be Authentic to Active Military and Veterans Alike

One of the aspects of SEAL Team that truly sets the series apart from its contemporaries in military fiction is its commitment to authenticity. Aside from David Boreanaz wearing an actual SEAL's helmet on camera, the cast and crew feature a large number of U.S. military veterans who all do their part. In an interview with Military.com, actor Tyler Grey, who plays Trent Sawyer on the show, explained that that's always been true of the CBS-turned-Paramount+ series. "I've been working on SEAL Team since the pilot. At the very beginning, it started with someone from the military with prior service who wanted to make something about Special Operations. The start was with a veteran and not the other way around. That’s very rare."

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Grey is right; it is rare that a film or television series like SEAL Team would be made up largely of veterans, not to mention the two former Navy SEALs (Mark Semos and Kenny Sheard) in the writers' room. More often than not, Hollywood comes up with the idea and pursues it all on their own, only bringing in advisors for accuracy later on in the process. The opposite was true of SEAL Team. But aside from attempting to portray the horrors of combat accurately, the show also does well to share what it's like to try and live with the aftermath. "It's really difficult to go from combat to coming home and dealing with family, and then going back to the combat," Mark Owen explained in a CBS special feature about the series, emphasizing that one of the things he loves most about SEAL Team is the inner turmoil it presents its characters with. "It takes a lot to sacrifice so much, and that's really why I think this show does so well."

Part of the real-world implications explored on SEAL Team is what happens when veterans come home and struggle with acclimating back into their "normal lives." In the show's sixth season, longtime cast member Clay Spenser (Max Thieriot, who went on to co-create and star in CBS's Fire Country) was killed while dissuading another vet from killing himself. Similar to the story of Chris Kyle (also a former Navy SEAL) as told in the Clint Eastwood picture American Sniper, the episode "Aces and Eights," which was co-written by former SEAL Kenny Sheard, portrays the complicated struggles concerning the mental health of veterans. With veteran suicide something of an epidemic in the United States, bringing this tough subject to light on SEAL Team is just as important as ever. The disastrous consequences of this episode alone bring such a powerful weight to the series and shocked fans everywhere.

'SEAL Team' Is Concluding With Its Seventh Season

After the fallout that was the death of Operator Clay Spencer, SEAL Team had two episodes of Season 6 to deal with the tragedy before it came to a close. Between that and some other major plot developments, we're thankful that Paramount+ didn't leave the military drama there. In August 2024, the seventh and final season (consisting of 10 action-packed episodes) began to air weekly on the streamer, giving the Bravo Team the official send-off we were all hoping for. Even now, Boreanaz continues to wear Mark Owen's signature helmet while performing simulated combat and honors the real-life heroes that he portrays on the small screen. Still, with one more batch of episodes underway, we can't help but mourn the loss of SEAL Team as it comes to an end, especially after Jason's revelation of a brain injury last season.

But why is SEAL Team coming to a close? Well, because Boreanaz himself thought it was time for the show to wrap up. In a recent interview with Collider, the actor revealed that the physical and mental toll that the series pushed him to for nearly a decade was more than he could handle. "It’s very difficult to portray these types of emotions, day in day out, when you’re shooting them," the actor explained. "So, from my perspective, as an actor playing these emotions, I can only imagine how they are for those that are actually living it." Boreanaz explained that he came to this conclusion after realizing that the show examined every part of Jason Hayes, and there was nowhere left for the character to turn. Not wanting to stay longer than he should, Boreanaz noted that he would've left SEAL Team after Season 7 even if the streamer decided to continue the drama. Thankfully, they agreed that the show was nearing its natural end.

"The ultimate sacrifice for [a] character like this is that you could possibly be killed on the battlefield," the actor teased, noting that the "realistic" outcome of Jason Hayes' story is death in combat. "That’s how we’ve always shot the show, from day one. That possibility is there. It may come to fruition, or it may not..." However SEAL Team does decide to write Jason off, either as a sacrifice for the sake of his team or a war hero returning home, there's no doubt that Boreanaz will continue to honor the real-life SEALs as he does so. If you haven't started Season 7 yet, it's time to jump into the final adventures of Bravo Team, which will conclude with its final episode, "The Last Word," on October 6, 2024.

SEAL Team is available to watch on Paramount+ in the U.S.

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