Sure, the 2016 Olympics looks like one of the greatest catastrophes of major event planning in human history, but don’t pretend you won’t tune in when it starts up. It’ll be August, football’s not back yet, baseball’s in its dog days and it’s still in many ways the apex of human drama in the whole world of sports. Our point is, it’s time to start warming up to the human-interest stories that will pop up during the Games and pique your interest. Enter Nate Ebner of Team USA’s first Olympic rugby sevens squad.
Ebner is a safety who mostly plays special teams for the New England Patriots, but he took a leave of absence from the team in May to train for the Olympics, and on Monday it was announced that he’s made the final squad. Ebner was a world-class rugby player before he ever tried football, having competed for U-19 and U-20 squads. He walked on at Ohio State, and after playing only two years in college was drafted by the Patriots in the sixth round of the 2013 draft. The Pats signed him to another 2-year contract as a free agent this summer, but gave their blessing to see him try out.
Rugby sevens is a quicker, leaner version of rugby union (or fifteens), which is the more common version seen at the Rugby World Cup and on clubs around the country. Sevens, true to its name, uses seven players on the field rather than the traditional 15, resulting in a far more wide-open game based on breakaway runs rather than long sequences of tackling and pushing. All that running — far more per minute than even soccer — means that games have to be short, with two halves of 7 minutes each and a 2-minute halftime.
It’s brand new to the Olympics this year, and it is ready to be your new favorite sport. Team USA will not be the favorites, but with Ebner, they’ll at least have something for football fans to latch on to. And in case you’re wondering, this will be the first time an active NFL player will also participate in the Olympics.
(Via ESPN)
