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Jackson
Thompson
6 hours ago (June 4, 2020)
2019
Season Rewind
Nate Ebner's time with the Patriots
came to an end after the 2019 season, but his eight-year tenure in New England
was evidence of one of the truly remarkable stories that are possible in the
NFL.
As a participant in the Rio de Janeiro
Olympics in 2016, Ebner is one of just seven players in NFL history to participate in the
Olympics and also win a pro
football championship.
Ebner's
athletics tactually aren't even rooted in football-- they are instead rooted in
rugby. He didn't play football in high school, instead, choosing to embrace the
chance to play for the junior national rugby team for whom he played in three
Junior World Cups.
He
didn't even play football until college when he walked on at Ohio State and became the program's
best special teams player. That was good enough to earn draft status, as
the Patriots made him a seventh-round pick in 2012.
Ebner applied his rugby skills to the
Patriots' special teams unit, earning a first-team All-Pro selection in 2016 but only
playing one snap on defense at safety since 2018.
Over
the past seven years, Ebner built chemistry with New England's long-time
special teams staple Matthew Slater.
As
an eight-time Pro-Bowler and five-time first-team All-Pro on special teams,
Slater set a standard for the unit's work ethic, giving Ebner an example for
Ebner to follow when he first came into the league.
"I learned a lot from Matt coming in as a rookie," Ebner said in an introductory conference call back in March.
"I
just watched him work on a day-to-day basis ... coming to work with a selfless
attitude to do the work that's asked of you to the best of your ability to put
the teams' priorities above your own. That's what Matt did forever."
Ebner
also developed chemistry with new Giants head coach Joe Judge, who worked with
Ebner directly since also joining the Patriots in 2012 as a special teams
coach.
The
relationship between Judge and Ebner from New England is likely what brought
Ebner to the Giants as a first-time free agent this offseason on a one-year
deal.
Looking Ahead
Ebner's
connection with Judge might make the 31-year-old veteran a favorite to be an
ambassador for Judge's locker room.
Ebner
will also work alongside the Giants' returning special teams coach Thomas
McGaughey and assistant coordinator Tom Quinn.
Under
McGaughey, the Giants boasted one of the top special teams units in the NFL in
2019, ranking first in kick-off return yards, fourth in punt return yards,
seventh in punt return yards allowed and third in kick-off return yards
allowed.
The addition of Ebner's championship
special teams experience could blend well with the unit and lead to even
further improvement to the unit and push it to the top of the league.
The Giants added a crop of potential special teams contributor through the draft and with the signing of their undrafted free agents. Ebner will be a central figure in the special teams unit that those rookies will look to find a role in, and he believes that the key to molding that group is through bonding.
"It's
about finding guys that want to put everything into their work every day,"
he said. "It sounds like there'd be more to it, or it sounds like rah-rah
stuff, but that's the truth. Just (be) a group of guys that are tight-knit and
want to fight for each other."
