Ebner's Olympic adventure leads to Super Bowl
New England Patriots safety Nate Ebner may have missed out on an Olympic medal in Rio de Janeiro six months ago.
But as consolation prizes go, a second Super Bowl ring in the space of two years wouldn't be too shabby.
The 28-year-old safety and special teams player will cap a whirlwind journey on Sunday when he lines up for the Patriots against the Atlanta Falcons, just over a year after switching back to rugby to pursue his Olympic dream.
Ebner, who grew up playing rugby, representing the United States at various youth levels, earned a place on the USA sevens squad in Rio, where the Americans came within a whisker of upsetting Fiji before being eliminated from medal contention in the group stage.
Yet while the USA's Olympic medal quest ended in disappointment, Ebner returned from Rio with a treasure trove of memories.
"Just being at the opening ceremony, representing your country in a foreign place, that was pretty special," Ebner told AFP.
"From a personal standpoint, scoring a couple of tries in the Olympic Games was amazing. The whole experience.
"I'll always remember being out on the practice field at Flamengo and looking up and seeing the Christ the Redeemer Statue looking down at us. And taking a bus back to camp and going past Copacabana. That stuff was pretty cool."
Ebner took his mini-sabbatical from the NFL with the blessing of Patriots coach Bill Belichick.
During pre-season training in August, Patriots players and staff wore t-shirts with Ebner's name on as a gesture of support.
Ebner repaid that faith by seamlessly slotting back into the Patriots fold as a destructive member of New England's special teams corps.
"This is by far his best year. It's somewhat unexpected. He had a very gruelling offseason," Belichick said this week.
"When he came back, he was in great shape. He had also done a lot of tackling."
Ebner, who played in the 2014-2015 season Super Bowl-winning team, said returning to the finely tuned Patriots environment had been simple compared to the adjustments required to return to rugby.
"I hadn't played rugby competitively for about five or six years. Going from football to rugby was way more difficult than going from rugby to football," he said.
"When I came back from Rio I was in great cardiovascular shape. I had a couple of days rest but I'd been doing the same things for four years so it was a question of getting back into the routine."
Did he ever imagine that a season which started with the Olympics might end at the Super Bowl?
"When you play on this team you can always imagine it's a possibility," Ebner said.
"But to be here after the year that I've had? It's very special."