New York Giants special teams captain Nate Ebner has joined the USA 7s program to once again try to make the Olympic team.

According to a story written by Michael Eisen for the Giants, the NFL team is fully behind Ebner's attempt to be a rugby Olympian for the second time, even though it means he will miss the beginning of training camp.

“We are proud to support Nate in his effort to earn a place on the United States National Rugby team,” said Head Coach Joe Judge, who was the Special Teams Coorindator with the Patriots when Ebner went to Rio. “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 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.” 

“Once I settled into where I was mentally, I had that conversation with Joe and he was very receptive and understanding," said Ebner about asking to be released to try for the Olympics. "Obviously, he understands my background as a rugby player, what I did in 2016 and before that. I will say, it did help that I came back that season after the Olympics and had a stellar year, a really, really good year (a career-high 19 special teams tackles). I was physically fit and I was moving well, and I couldn’t attribute that to anything but playing rugby for six months. I think that bodes well when it comes to the argument for letting me go play. I came back in really good shape and played really well. At the end of the day, it was just a conversation we had to have. 

“It definitely eases the mind for me to really go out for something when I have the support of the franchise behind me to go ahead and go for a once-in-a-lifetime – luckily for me, a twice-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me to represent our country. I’ve been a part of nine NFL training camps, I’m pretty familiar with it. I think it speaks to the trust they have in me as a player, what I understand about the game and training camp and where I need to be that that trust is there. Just having that support is huge for me when I’m pursuing this that I can come back and know that they’re riding with me, if you will.”

Ebner, 32, played high school rugby in the Columbus, Ohio area and was on the USA U19 and U20 teams. He went on to play for Ohio State before walking onto the football team, earning a scholarship with the Buckeyes, and being drafted by the New England Patriots.

Ebner has played in 143 NFL games, including 16 in the postseason. He was on three Super Bowl-winning teams, in Super Bowls XLIX, LI, and LIII. He has been a special teams specialist during his career and is the Special Teams captain for the Giants.

All-Time American List: Nate Ebner

The football guy remains a rugby guy as a part owner of the New England Free Jacks and he made the USA Olympic rugby team in 2016. That team underperformed, losing key games to Fiji and Argentina and failing to make the medal knockout rounds.

The memories, then, are good, but leave some unfinished business.

“You’re on a different continent in a country where they don’t even really speak your language,” Ebner said in Eisen's article. “We’re in a two-hour opening ceremony where all these countries come through – obviously, the United States is one of the last ones as a ‘U.’ When the United States came out, the roar that I heard in that stadium gave me chills, like nothing I’ve heard before. When you’re in a different hemisphere of the world and they’re cheering for you like that, it shows you what you represent and it’s a lot bigger than you. To be a part of Team USA is extremely special and being from this country and what it means to be an American, and those things really resonated with me in the opening ceremony.

“Not getting a medal in that last Olympics is something that really bothers me,” he continued. “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.”

“We are very excited to welcome Nate back into the pack,” USA Head Coach Mike Friday. “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. He is a Dawg, a Pioneer and will be up for the challenge as we look ahead to Tokyo.”

The question, though, is whether he can do it. Ebner has to, in some ways, remake his body to be leaner and able to run longer. And he's 32, not 27, like he was in Rio.

“I’ve been playing NFL football for the last (nine) years and that’s not easy on your body,” Ebner said. “Over 30 in the NFL is an old person. In rugby, there are some older guys, but really it’s not about me being 32 in rugby, it’s the journey I’ve had. There are guys who are 24 and they’ve had all kinds of injuries. Everyone’s personal situation is different with their body and their age and the wear they’ve had to endure, so hopefully I can hold up. That’s obviously something I’m going to have to manage.”

Ebner is one of just seven players in NFL history to participate in the Olympics and also win a pro football championship. He is the only player to accomplish that feat in the same year.

“For a sport that I grew up playing not being in the Olympics basically ever and then it’s all of a sudden in the Olympics the year I’m 27 … the stars really aligned,” Ebner said. “I had played that sport my whole life, I was in my physical peak. Rugby is very close to my heart and obviously to represent the United States on the Olympic stage is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. When you look at the culmination of all those different things, to me I felt convicted, I felt pulled in that direction as if it was something I really had to do. I felt I would feel an extreme amount of regret had I not gone to try that.

“I want the USA to experience rugby the way I have, and I think winning a medal in the Olympics is a great step toward that, that recognition. When I really assess everything, that's a big motivation to me. Even if I didn’t make the team, helping the team get to a place where they need to be going into the Olympics to win a medal, that’s a big motivation. There will come a time when physically I’m not capable of doing any of this stuff. When that day comes, I won’t do it, but while I can I will.

“The physical, cardiovascular demands of this game are through the roof relative to football and it’s not even close,” Ebner said. “We don’t get to stop every six seconds after the play is over with. It’s just absurd. (In 2016), physically what it took for really six to eight weeks to get myself where I needed to be was extremely difficult. At least this time around I know what to expect physically because I’ve been through it. Last time I played, it had been five years competitively (since he had played at a high level). I’m hoping I’m in a better place this time around than I was five years ago, but I’m also five years older.”

(Information for this article was taken from a piece written by Michael Eisen for the New York Giants)