It’s taken\u00a0a lot of hard work for Nate Ebner, but with opening ceremonies set for this week, it won’t be long before the Patriots special teamer will get his opportunity to compete for gold in Rio.<\/p>\n
The road to get to this point was tough, as Ebner had to reshape his body to get back into the type of shape that playing the game of rugby requires as he competed to make the team. \u00a0He had to slim down and shed his football weight to try and get his speed and quickness back, which wasn’t easy. \u00a0Initially he felt pretty good when things started off, but reality set in pretty quick from there.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first few practices were really tough,\u201d Ebner said via Yahoo.com<\/strong><\/a>. \u201cI felt really strong and explosive for the first 30 seconds and then I\u2019ve never felt so weak and worthless within minutes of that. My legs felt like I was running in cement or mud.\u201d<\/p>\n