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NFL star and three-time Super Bowl winner re-joins USA Sevens side ahead of Tokyo Olympics
NFL star Nate Ebner has re-joined the USA Sevens side following a five-year absence from rugby ahead of this year’s Tokyo Olympics.
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The 32-year-old currently plays as a safety and special teamer for the New York Giants and won three Super Bowls during his seven-year spell with the New England Patriots between 2012 and 2019.
It was also during his time with the Patriots, where he lined up alongside the legendary Tom Brady, when he dabbled with rugby, a sport he had previously represented the United States in at U19 and U20 levels.
In 2016, New England granted Ebner a leave of absence to ply his trade for the USA Sevens side, who he played for at the Hong Kong, Singapore and Paris events on the 2015-16 World Sevens Series circuit.
His impressive performances in those tournaments were enough to secure him with a place in the USA Sevens squad to play at the 2016 Rio Olympics, where he played in four of his nation’s five matches en route to a ninth-place finish.
A return to the NFL beckoned following the Olympics, but Ebner has now returned to the American sevens set-up as he targets a second successive appearance at the Games.
Ebner linked back up with the USA Sevens squad on Monday [ET] as one of 30 players trialling for 12 spots on the Olympics roster ahead of the kick-off of the Games in July following its year-long postponement due to COVID-19.
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He said the fact that his side fell short of medalling in Brazil five years ago is a driving force in his return to sevens.
“Not getting a medal in that last Olympics is something that really bothers me,” Ebner, who one of only seven players in NFL history to have competed at an Olympics and is the one person ever to have attended an Olympics and won a Super Bowl in the same year, told Giants.com.
“When I reflect on what’s important in my life, if I’m being honest, that was high priority. People say, ‘You were the guy who won a gold medal in the Olympics,’ and I’m like, ‘No, we didn’t win a medal.’
“Not winning a medal, especially when I thought that we had the team to do it, and as I look at the growth in the last five years, we definitely have an even better chance this time around. It’s something I would really like to be a part of.”
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It’s that ambition that will be warmly welcomed by USA Sevens head coach Mike Friday, who selected Ebner for the 2016 Olympics.
After showing plenty of promise as an age-grade star in New Zealand, Kieran Manawatu found himself working in a dead-end job with no rugby prospects on the horizon at the age of 22. A call from Europe, though, turned his life around.https://t.co/9XNB5yramw
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 15, 2021
“We are very excited to welcome Nate back into the pack,” head coach Friday told said. “He is not only a talented athlete, rugby player and Olympian, he is a durable individual who knows how to grind and is selfless for the cause.
“Nate is an authentic, good man who carries himself with humility, has a burning desire in his eyes to achieve and a passion to embed rugby and its values in the American sporting landscape.”
Ebner, who played all 16 of New York’s matches last season, has the full support of the Giants as he looks to double down on his rugby feats, even if it means he could miss the opening week of the franchise’s pre-season training camp.
The men’s Olympic sevens tournament gets underway on July 26 and wraps up two days later, around the same time the Giants players will congregate ahead of the 2021 NFL season.
However, New York head coach Joe Judge, who was Ebner’s special teams coordinator at the Patriots, fully backs his player’s bid for Olympic glory.
A Crusaders star is set for a sideline spell after dislocating his shoulder during his side's 39-17 win over the Chiefs in Christchurch on Saturday. #SuperRugbyAotearoa https://t.co/HGV0VsyV0J
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 15, 2021
“We are proud to support Nate in his effort to earn a place on the United States national rugby team,” Judge said. “This is the second time I have been with Nate while he tries to make the team to represent our country in the Olympics.
“We know that rugby has been an important part of Nate’s life since he was a young man, and [Giants general manager] Dave [Gettleman] and I both encouraged him to pursue this opportunity.
“Nate’s rugby training will keep him in great shape this offseason, and we will stay in touch with him as he goes through the process.”
In addition to his playing commitments with the Giants and USA Sevens, Ebner is also a minority owner of the New England Free Jacks in Major League Rugby, as is his former Patriots teammate Patrick Chung.
Comments on RugbyPass
Did the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
1 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
4 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
16 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
16 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
3 Go to commentsBeaches? In Cardiff? Where?
1 Go to commentsHe is right , the Crusaders will be a threat. Scott Barrett, ( particularly), Fergus Burke , Codie Taylor, ( from sabbatical) etc due back soon for the Crusaders. There are others like Zach Gallagher too. People can right the Crusaders off, Top 8 , here we come !!
1 Go to commentsWe will always struggle for money to match the other sides but the least the WRU can do is invest properly in Welsh rugby. Too much has been squandered on vanity projects like the hotel and roof walk amongst others which will never see a massive return. Hanging the 4 pro sides out to dry over the last decade is now coming back to bite the WRU financially as well as on the pitch. You reap what you sow.
1 Go to commentsWhat do you get if you cross a doctor with a fish? A plastic sturgeon
14 Go to commentsWhat happened to feleti Kaitu’u? Hasnt played in a while right?
1 Go to commentsGregor I just can’t agree with you. You are trying to find something that just isn’t there. Jordie Barrett has signed until 2028. By the end of that he would have spent probably 11-12 years on Super Rugby and you say he can’t possibly have one season playing somewhere else. It is absurd. What about this scenario, the NZR play hard ball and he decides to leave and play overseas. How would that affect the competition. There seems to be an agenda by certain journalists to push certain agendas and don’t like it when it’s not to their liking. I fully support the NZR on this. Gregor needs to get a life.
3 Go to commentsHope he stays as believe he can do a great job.
1 Go to commentsMake what step up? Manie has a World Cup winner’s medal around his neck and changed the way the Springboks can play. He doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone. The win record of the Boks with him in the team is tremendous. Sacha can be wonderful and I hope he has a very succesful Bok career, but comparing him to Manie in terms of the next Bok flyhalf is very strange. Manie is the incumbent (not the next) and doing pretty incredibly.
4 Go to comments00 😍 U
1 Go to commentsSabbaticals have helped keep NZ’s very best talent in the country on long term deals - this fact has been left out of this article. Much like the articles calling to allow overseas players to be selected, yet can only name one player currently not signed to NZR who would be selected for the ABs. And in the entire history of NZ players leaving to play overseas, literally only 4 or 5 have left in their prime as current ABs. (Piatau, Evans, Hayman, Mo’unga,?) Yes Carter got an injury while playing in France 16 years ago, but he also got a tournament ending injury at the 2011 World Cup while taking mid-week practice kicks at goal. Maybe Jordie gets a season-ending injury while playing in Ireland, maybe he gets one next week against the Brumbies. NZR have many shortcomings, but keeping the very best players in the country and/or available for ABs selection is not one of them. Likewise for workload management - players missing 2 games out of 14 is hardly a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Again let’s use some facts - did it stop the Crusaders winning SR so many times consecutively when during any given week they would be missing 2 of their best players? The whole idea of the sabbatical is to reward your best players who are willing to sign very long term deals with some time to do whatever they want. They are not handed out willy-nilly, and at nowhere near the levels that would somehow devalue Super Rugby. In this particular example JB is locked in with NZR for what will probably (hopefully) be the best years of his career, hard to imagine him not sticking around for a couple more after for a Lions tour and one more world cup. He has the potential to become the most capped AB of all time. A much better outcome than him leaving NZ for a minimum of 3 years at the age of 27, unlikely to ever play for the ABs again, which would be the likely alternative.
3 Go to commentsJake White talks more sense than anything I've read in the last 5 years. Hope someone's listening.
16 Go to commentsThe Springboks tried going down the road of only picking home-based players and it was an unmitigated disaster in 2016 and 2017. Picking overseas-based players has been one of the main reason the Boks have done so well since 2018, not only because of the quality Rassie could call on, but because of the knowledge and experience those players brought into camp from England, France and Japan. With some of the big names playing abroad it also gave younger players in SA the chance to break through at franchise level. Would we have seen the emergence of a Ruan Nortje if RG and Lood were still at the Bulls? Not so sure. I understand why Jake would want to block players leaving since his job depends on good results but it’s an approach that would take Bok rugby back to the bad old days and no South African wants to see that.
16 Go to commentsExeter were thumped by 38 points. And they only had to hop on a train.
39 Go to commentsI am De Groot.
1 Go to comments