Buffalo Bills wide receiver Marquise Goodwin failed in his quest to make the 2016 Olympics in the long jump, but he’s not the only current or former NFL player to give it a try. While Goodwin will have to settle for a return to the Bills’ active roster, former Detroit Lions running back Jahvid Best and New England Patriots safety Nate Ebner will still have a chance to live out their Olympic dreams.
Ebner has been with the Patriots since 2012 when the team picked him in the sixth round of the NFL draft out of Ohio State. He’s never started a game, but has been a contributor on special teams all four of his NFL seasons.
But Ebner has another love outside of NFL football, but it’s still very much in the same wheelhouse. Monday USA Rugby announced Ebner had made the 2016 Olympic squad. Ebner plays forward for the team and was a rugby All-American while at Ohio State and this isn’t his first time on a team competing at the world level. When Ebner was 17 he was the youngest player to ever take the field for Men’s Eagles Sevens and was twice named Team USA’s MVP at the Under-19 IRB Junior World Championship in 2007 and again in 2008.
Congratulations, @Natebner34 on making the @USARugby squad! 🏉 #RoadtoRio https://t.co/FdbZuWSry2
— NFL (@NFL) July 19, 2016
Men’s Rugby Sevens will debut in the Olympics this year and that’s what brought Ebner back into the sport.
“I just keep my head down and keep going (trying to make the team),” Ebner told the Los Angeles Times. “Just want to earn respect through my work ethic.”
Ebner doesn’t have to worry about his job with the Patriots in the meantime. Head coach Bill Belichick has given him his personal blessing to compete for Team USA. At least, he gave as much of a blessing as his lizard heart would allow.
“Even though he will be away from our team during an important period of our offseason, Belichick said in a statement. “He will be getting excellent physical training and I expect him to be ready for the football season like he always is.”
Watch the @chelseahandler show to catch my interview, airing this week @netflix! #USARugby #FinishStrong pic.twitter.com/zxVECNaDVZ
— Nate Ebner (@NateEbner) July 20, 2016
Former Lions running back Jahvid Best doesn’t have to worry too much about pissing off his head coach. He’s been out of the NFL since 2012 after suffering numerous concussions, missing the entire 2012 season with post-concussion symptoms that required cognitive therapy. With his NFL career over, Best moved back to the track where he was a star in high school. Thanks to his father holding citizenship in Saint Lucia, Best will get a chance to compete under the flag of the small Caribbean country.
Best will compete in the men’s 100 meter race, alongside American medal hopeful Justin Gatlin and the best sprinter in human history, Jamaica’s Usain Bolt.
“When I think of the road I have traveled to get here, I get tons of emotions,” Best told NBC sports. “A couple of years ago my lifetime dream was crushed. I was devastated, but I never stop dreaming and believing in myself. My family has instilled a lot of values that has enabled me to persevere through it all.”
Former RB Jahvid Best becomes first ex-NFL player to participate in the Olympics!
RETWEET to congratulate him! pic.twitter.com/tn0gD98HYL
— Lions SPORTalk (@SPORTalkLions) July 18, 2016
Best was a star in college for the University of California, but never managed to break out in the NFL. Best started 15 games over two seasons, rushing for a total of 945 yards and six touchdowns. He caught 85 passes for 774 yards and three touchdowns.
In his sophomore season for the Golden Bears, Best carried the ball 194 times for 1,580 yards and 15 touchdowns. He added 27 catches for 246 yards and one touchdown.
Saint Lucia is part of the Lesser Antilles group of Islands with a population of around 174,000 people. Saint Lucia gained its full independence from the United Kingdom in 1979.
Did you know? Saint Lucia has officially been at war with the country of France 14 different times in its history since 1660.
Did you know? The first European to actually visit St. Lucia was a pirate, Francois le Clerc, better known as “Jame de Boise” or, in English, “Peg Leg.” He’s the reason our idea of pirates having peg legs continues to this day. Peg Leg once plundered Santiago, Cuba so ferociously, the island nation had to move its capital to Havana, where it remains today.
