Former New York Giants safety Nate Ebner, currently an unrestricted free agent who had his sights set on qualifying for the U.S. Rugby team headed to Tokyo this summer for the Olympic games, has withdrawn from consideration.
Ebner released a statement via his Twitter account explaining that he underwent off-season surgery for an undisclosed injury suffered last year in his first with the Giants.
While Ebner said his rehab is on schedule, it apparently isn't on a schedule that will allow him to participate in the Olympics at the level he feels he needs to be at.
But that doesn't mean that Ebner's athletics career is over. Giants head coach Joe Judge, who brought the special teams ace with him from the Patriots last season, already confirmed that the team planned to re-sign Ebner once his Olympics obligations were completed.
“Technically, Nate’s a free agent right now, but we fully intend for him to be a member of the Giants,” Judge said.
“I’ve gone through this before with him, I understand exactly how his training applies and how it could lead into football…he’s a guy that’s very locked in, very focused, he was a captain for us last year and he’s a great team leader.
"This team and what he’s helping build is very important to him…he’s a very important part of this team and we’re looking forward to getting him back.”
Ebner contributed six special teams tackles for the Giants last year, including four solo efforts which ranked fifth on the team. He also contributed two tackles on 39 defensive snaps.
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