Nate Ebner during the men’s rugby sevens match against Brazil at the Summer Olympics in Rio. AP Photo
By Harold Rivera
Three weeks ago, Nate Ebner made his lifelong dream a reality when he represented the United States in the summer Olympics as a member of the national rugby sevens team. The United States was unable to bring home a medal, but it shed a new light of attention and exposure to a sport that’s looking to grow among American fans. Along the way, Ebner got the opportunity to play a sport that he learned when he was 6.
Now Ebner’s back with his regular employer, the New England Patriots, who drafted the safety in the sixth round of the 2012 NFL Draft. Ebner, who won a Super Bowl with the Patriots in 2015, missed a portion of the team’s training camp this summer due to his commitment to the Olympics in Rio. With his return, Ebner’s set on getting his routine back to normal.
“I haven’t had a lot of time,” Ebner said of getting back to football. “I’m just trying to get my feet wet and taking it one day at a time, one practice at a time to get back to the groove of things. It’s kind of crazy how things have gone in the last week and a half. It almost feels like I never stopped playing football and this never happened.”
Ebner played college rugby and football at Ohio State University. He learned the sport from his father, Jeffrey, who also played rugby at the University of Minnesota. Jeffrey Ebner died in 2008 at the age of 53, but the passion for rugby that he instilled in his son still lives today.
Despite having a successful NFL career with a winning team, Ebner always pondered the possibility of playing rugby again someday.
“Even if it wasn’t at the international level, I wanted to make my way back to rugby,” Ebner said. “If I ever found my way out of the NFL and my body was healthy enough.”
He added, “Rugby’s something special in my life. If football didn’t work out, I definitely would’ve found my way back to rugby. Did I think it would happen in the Olympics? No. But you never know. You never know what’s going to happen in your football career.”
As rugby made its way back into the summer Olympics for the first time since 1924, Ebner prepared to chase a lifelong dream. Throughout the process he had full support from his agent, Sean Stellato.
“He approached me and that was one of the first things we talked about,” said Stellato, who has represented Ebner since 2015. “NFL careers aren’t very long and this is a once in a lifetime opportunity so I said ‘without a doubt.’ The thing I love about Nate is he wants to be the best at everything he does and that resonates with me because I want to be the best at everything I do. I was all for it. We just had to blueprint how we were going to approach this.”
The next step was approaching head coach Bill Belichick and the Patriots organization. Ebner admitted he felt nervous about requesting time away from the team for a shot at the Olympics.
“I was a little nervous,” he recalled. “Obviously it’s a strange request but at the same time I was very convicted about it. My heart was all in it and when you’re as convicted as I was, it wasn’t that hard to do.”
The Patriots were all in on Ebner’s dream, as well. With the team’s blessing, Ebner was on his way to taking a shot at a sport that he hadn’t played in five years.
“That’s the beauty of Coach Belichick,” Stellato said. “He does a great job of going after hard working men. They knew he was a rugby player first. The Patriots do their due diligence. They knew how much it meant for him to carry on his dad’s legacy.”
On July 18, it was announced that Ebner was one of the 12 players selected to represent the United States on the rugby seven’s team. As the Olympics quickly drew closer, it began to resonate that he’d earned the opportunity he was hoping for.
Yet, for Ebner, the reality didn’t hit until he was being fitted for team gear in Houston.
“When we were going through processing in Houston for Team USA Nike was fitting us up with all the gear,” Ebner said. “Ralph Lauren and Polo, going through that. They just shower you with stuff, even more so than the Super Bowl. That moment was like ‘man, we’re going to Rio.’”
When they got there, it was time to focus on the matter at hand.
“Once we got there we had to get settled in and get comfortable,” Ebner said. “We had to build a routine and focus on the reason we were there.”
The United States dropped its opening match in a heartbreaker to Argentina. The team bounced back with a win in its next game over Brazil, but followed that victory with a loss to eventual gold medalist Fiji, and finished ninth overall.
Even though the U.S. team couldn’t come away with a medal, the hope is that it contributed to the growth of the sport in the United States.
“I don’t know if it will (grow) or it won’t,” Ebner said. “Obviously we would’ve liked to finish better, but we took the gold medalist to the wire.”
He added, “We played to have the country back us and watch us go for gold. The real thing we needed to do was showcase the game of sevens and how exciting it is and how good we are as a nation. I think we did do that and hopefully we opened the eyes to the rest of the country.”
Stellato credited Ebner as an inspiration for young athletes looking to pursue their dreams.
“I think he’s paved the way,” Stellato said. “He’s going to inspire a lot of kids who put their minds and hearts to do something. He’s paved the way for another generation and he’s a case study for kids who have dreams.”
Ebner made the most of his opportunity in the Olympics, scoring tries in games against Fiji and Brazil.
“Obviously he would’ve loved the medal,” Stellato said. “But not only did he do this, he balled out.”
Now, Ebner’s focused on gearing up for his fifth NFL season. The Patriots have one preseason game remaining before they visit the Arizona Cardinals on Sept. 11 to kick off the regular season.
“I missed the first few weeks of training camp,” Ebner said. “I just want to play to the best of my ability. I need to get myself to where I need to be to help the team win. Anything else beyond that really isn’t important to me. I’m just focused on that.”