Patriots safety Nate Ebner selected to U.S Olympic rugby team
New England Patriots safety Nate Ebner has been selected to represent USA Olympic Rugby team.
According to USA Today, who broke the news Monday, Ebner has an extensive background in rugby, including earning All-American honors while at Ohio State. Once landing on the Buckeyes football team after walking on, he was considered one of the best special teams players on the entire roster.
Ebner has developed well in his years playing for the Patriots. So well in fact, Bill Belichick has said (via SI), “I would probably put him in the, not the all-time top, but maybe in the top-five percent all time of players that I’ve coached, from where they were in college to how they grew in the NFL.”
USA Rugby coach Mike Friday labeled Ebner’s initial chances of making the team between 10 and 20 percent before Ebner took a leave of absence from the team,to train for rugby full-time. Ebner must have impressed in competitions since then to make coach Friday change his mind and put him on his roster.
The Patriots re-signed Ebner in May as a restricted free agent to a two-year $2.4 million contract with $500,000 guaranteed. Ebner will rejoin the Patriots after the 11th of August, after the rugby portion of the Olympics has concluded.
What may be the biggest driving factor for Ebner playing rugby in the Olympics is his father. Just as Michael Jordan wanted to honor his late father by playing baseball, Ebner has that same feeling with Rugby. In May, Ebner told the Boston Herald, “(Rugby) was a big part of my relationship with my dad,” Ebner said. “And growing up with it at young age, it never really leaves the back of your head. I was just lucky enough to have work it out and be able to chase the Olympic dream in the sport I grew up playing.”
Former Detroit Lions running back Jahvid Best will be competing in Rio, running track and field for St. Lucia. Best was forced to retire from professional football after suffering concussions and from post-concussion symptoms, the primary reason he never returned to the field after the 2011 season.
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