Ebner contends for U.S. rugby spot
NFL player hopes to make team for ‘sevens’ in Rio
Football players have been competing in the Olympics for decades, albeit in other sports.
New England Patriots defensive back Nate Ebner hopes to be the latest to go for the gold in an event — rugby — that last appeared in the Games when the NFL was a 4-year-old league.
The “sevens” version of rugby (seven players to a side) that will be played in Rio is “full-blown action — the hardest 15 minutes of anything I’ve ever done,” Ebner told USA TODAY Sports.
That comes from a guy who managed to walk on to Ohio State’s football team as a junior without previous experience playing organized football. Then he managed to get drafted by the Patriots, winning a Super Bowl ring with them in the 2014 season.
Even though rugby, which Ebner, 27, has played since childhood, and football might seem to share similar characteristics, he thinks the sports are little more than distant cousins.
Ebner says sevens essentially requires an all-out sprint for three-quarters of a mile amid “a very free-flowing game where you play off the guys next to you.
“It’s a lot like basketball actually,” he says.
Sevens is frenetic, with a twominute break separating sevenminute halves as teams cover a field the size of a soccer pitch.
Ebner, a special-teams ace who will be entering his fifth NFL season, re-signed with the Patriots in March and was granted a leave of absence to try to fulfill his Olympic dream. He had played for the national team as a teen and was Team USA’s MVP in the 2007 and 2008 junior world championship before focusing on his studies (and football) at Ohio State.
“There’s nothing in sports like covering a kickoff or covering a punt,” said Ebner, admitting he enjoys football’s violent contact. “Rugby, there’s no blocking, you can’t hit anybody unless they have the ball — they’re very different games in their own way. But for me, I’ve been able to transition well because I’ve played rugby my whole life.”
A training regimen that typically requires 5 to 8 miles of running per day has helped Ebner literally get up to speed, though he says he prefers the contact in the 15-man version of rugby to the constant sprinting sevens demands.
The USA won rugby gold in 1920 and 1924, the last time the sport appeared in the Olympics. This year’s team also is considered a legitimate contender and has even knocked off mighty New Zealand twice in different tournaments over the last year.
Ebner will know Monday if he makes the 12-man roster.
“I think he’s got as good of a shot as a lot of people,” team captain Madison Hughes said recently. “I think he’s got a decent chance of being there.”
The six-day tournament in Rio will begin Aug. 6. The Patriots open training camp July 27 and will be awaiting Ebner’s arrival once he becomes available.
“I’ll be in great shape, able to run for days,” said Ebner, who added he’s never had to switch from rugby to football in such a compressed time period and is aware he’ll have to quickly pack on football weight.
“I’ll have to get used to my neck muscles holding my helmet; that will be one of the bigger adjustments.”
And no matter how his Olympic pursuit pans out, he’s thankful for the memories he’s accrued over the last four months.
“It’s been great. These guys are all great guys, humble guys. I’m lucky to be teammates with them and call them my friends. Been a good opportunity, good learning experience. I’ve gotten to travel to Hong Kong and Singapore and London and Paris.
“I’ve left everything I possibly could out there and would have absolutely no regret or change anything I’ve done.”