Nate Ebner

Nate Ebner is an American football safety for the New England Patriots. He played college football and rugby at Ohio State.

College football career
Ebner, a preferred walk-on player for the Buckeyes, was considered their best special teams player. Even though he played only a handful of plays from scrimmage at nickelback as a back up, Ebner was a special teams standout.

College rugby career
Ebner was a standout rugby union player on the US age group national team. Ebner was named MVP of the USA team at the IRB Junior World Championship in 2007 (Under 19) and 2008 (Under 20), and at age 17 was the youngest player ever to play in National 7's. He had considered playing rugby had he not been drafted.

New England Patriots (2012-present)
Ebner was drafted by the New England Patriots in the sixth round of the 2012 NFL Draft, 197th overall. He signed a four-year contract with a $96,600 signing bonus. In his second preseason game, against the Philadelphia Eagles, he intercepted a pass and returned it 34 yards.
 * 2012 season

During his rookie season, Ebner played in all but one game, and finished second on the team both in special teams tackles (17) and special teams snaps (297, or 61% of snaps). He also played 36 snaps at safety.