New England Patriots coach
Bill Belichick said he does not expect that
Nate Ebner’s absence from the team to participate in the Olympics will adversely affect his NFL performance.
Ebner, a safety and special teams player for the Patriots since he was selected in the sixth round of the 2012 draft, recently signed a new two-year deal with New England that includes written permission from the club to allow him to participate in the Olympics. Ebner will miss all of the team’s spring offseason training and about two weeks of summer training camp to compete for the USA Rugby team in Rio.
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The Patriots’ Nate Ebner (left), with his agent, Sean Stellato of SES Sports
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But Belichick said he expects that Ebner will return to the club in football shape. “Even though he will be away from our team during an important period of our offseason, he will still be getting excellent physical training, and I expect him to be ready for the football season like he always is,” said Belichick in an email.
Ebner has already beaten the odds to make it in the NFL. He was a walk-on football player at Ohio State after growing up playing rugby, not American football. His father, the late Jeff Ebner, was a rugby player who played for the United States in international competition and was the coach of Nate Ebner’s high school rugby team.
Belichick noted the Ebner family’s connection to rugby as well as Ebner’s chance to represent America.
“For Nate to potentially be able to represent our country on the world’s biggest stage playing a sport that is such a big part of his family is a special and rare opportunity,” Belichick said.
Ebner’s two-year Patriots contract is reportedly valued at $2.4 million, with $500,000 guaranteed. He’ll make some money playing for USA Rugby, as well. Asked whether he was making or losing money by combining rugby with the NFL, Ebner said, “I am not going to get into all the contract options that I have or didn’t have.”
“At some point there has to be a monetary value to regretting something,” he said, adding that if he were not able to play on the U.S. rugby team, “I could potentially regret that for the rest of my life.”
NFL agent Sean Stellato, founder and CEO of SES Sports, negotiated Ebner’s deal with the Patriots and said he is in talks with companies about endorsement deals for Ebner.
> ROSENHAUS SIGNS 15: Rosenhaus Sports has signed 15 prospects for the NFL draft, including highly rated prospects Oklahoma State defensive lineman Emmanuel Ogbah, LSU linebacker Deion Jones and Mississippi State defensive lineman Chris Jones.
Rosenhaus Sports also has signed Ohio State defensive lineman Adolphus Washington, LSU defensive back Jalen Mills, Arizona linebacker Scooby Wright, Miami defensive back Deon Bush, Western Kentucky quarterback Brandon Doughty, Florida running back Kelvin Taylor, Miami wide receiver Rashawn Scott, Western Michigan wide receiver Daniel Braverman, Illinois running back Josh Ferguson and Akron linebacker Jatavis Brown.
Additionally, Rosenhaus Sports signed UCLA wide receiver Jordan Payton, who had been with First Pick Sports, and Kansas State fullback Glenn Gronkowski, the brother of Rosenhaus client and New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski.
Brothers Drew and Jason Rosenhaus own the firm. Drew Rosenhaus represents the players with agents who work with him, including Robert Bailey, Ryan Matha, Michael Katz, Jason Katz and LeRon McCoy.
Rosenhaus has also signed quarterback Johnny Manziel for playing contract work. Drew Rosenhaus and Michael Katz will represent Manziel, who was cut by the Cleveland Browns on March 11. Manziel had been represented on the field by Erik Burkhardt of Select Sports Group since before he was selected No. 22 by the Browns in the 2014 draft, but Burkhardt announced Feb. 5 that he was dropping Manziel. LRMR had represented Manziel for off-the-field work, but that firm, which is owned in part by Cavaliers forward LeBron James, announced it was dropping Manziel as a client in January.
Liz Mullen can be reached at lmullen@sportsbusinessjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter @SBJLizMullen.
