New England Patriots safety Nate Ebner will embark on his journey for an Olympic gold medal today!
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Ebner scored on the first half’s final play Tuesday to help the U.S.to a 26-0 win over host Brazil.
A late try from Ebner gave the USA hope, and if Madison Hughes had slotted the conversion, the US would have booked a spot in the knockouts at the expense of the Kiwis, but Hughes’ kick missed.
They saw No. 12 – no, not in honor of Tom Brady – score just as the first half ended and then get yellow-carded in the second half for laying out Brazilian reserve Gustavo Albuquerque on a hit that would have drawn praise in Foxborough but earned him jeers and a two-minute penalty at Deodoro Stadium.
Ebner will miss about two weeks of pre-season workouts for New England coach Bill Belichick while with the American squad, but was confident he would return in great cardio form, albeit a little underweight.
Nate Ebner made Olympic history, becoming the first active National Football League player to compete at a Summer Olympics.
“The biggest thing I take from rugby is that it’s so relatable to life, as in so many things can go wrong quickly, but you can’t dwell on it, and the quicker you put it behind you and get on to the next task, you have a better chance of succeeding”, Ebner said. And no, American soccer did not instantly turn out to be an Olympic sport.
The U.S. team’s other Jewish player, Zack Test, also played Wednesday, for three of the game’s 14 minutes.
“It’s been awesome. I wouldn’t have done anything differently”, he said.
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Argentina scored a try in injury time to erase a 14-12 USA lead. He is also now the only athlete to win both an Olympic gold medal and a Super Bowl ring – a feat Ebner has a realistic chance to emulate. But with the USA Rugby team in the Summer Olympics, Ebner wears 12 – you can see his name on the back of Belichick’s shirt in his honor, and it appears the rest of the Patriots coaches are wearing the same shirts.
