As New England Patriots safety Nate Ebner competes in Rio de Janeiro, his teammates on the Patriots are proudly cheering him on from training camp in Foxborough.
Ebner is taking the field for the United States Men’s Rugby team, fulfilling a lifelong dream of his. Head Coach Bill Belichick and other coaches sported Team USA Rugby shirts at practice Tuesday and players wore red, white and blue socks in Ebner’s honor last week.
“You think about the greatest athletes in the world that work for a chance their whole lives and in Nate’s case, it’s even more of a special circumstance so I can’t express how proud we are of him,” said Patriots special teams captain Matthew Slater.
The team said they will take a break from practice to watch Ebner.
“Nate is a very popular guy on the team, everybody loves Nate with his work ethic and what he brings to the team,” said Patriots defensive back Devin McCourty. “To now see it come full circle and actually watch him is going to be a cool experience.”
Patriots quarterback Tom Brady also posted a message on Facebook to his teammate.