Nate Ebner

BIOGRAPHY

Nathan Ebner was born on December 14th, 1988, in Dublin, Ohio and currently plays safety and special teamer for the New England Patriots of the NFL.

He attended Hilliard Davidson high school but did not play football there. Ebner was a standout rugby union player on the U.S. age-group national teams. He was named MVP of the USA team at both the under-19 IRB Junior World Championship in 2007 and the under-20 IRB Junior World Championship in 2008.

He went to Ohio State University, did not play football his first two years of college, as he was competing internationally in rugby, but then in his junior year, he walked-on the Buckeyes. He played only a handful of plays from scrimmage at Nickelback as a backup but did record a sack.

In 2011 as a senior he had 11 tackles; he was voted the team's most inspirational player, receiving the Bo Rein Award, and the team's best special team's player, earning the Ike Kelley Award. He was a three-time Big Ten Conference All-Academic honoree. He played in 36 games and had 30 tackles from 2009 to 2011.

The New England Patriots drafted Ebner in the sixth round of the 2012 NFL Draft, 197th overall. He signed a four-year contract. He played mainly on special teams in 15 regular-season games, finishing second on the team with 17 special teams tackles. He appeared in both postseason contests, making one special team tackle.

In 2013 he played mainly special teams in 15 regular-season games. Registered 11 special team's tackles and two fumble recoveries on special teams and saw action in both playoff games.  In 2014 he played 48 percent of special teams snaps, making 11 tackles (second on the team), and won his first Super Bowl ring when the Patriots won Super Bowl XLIX.

During the 2015 season, he appeared in 15 regular-season games as a reserve, mainly on special teams, and compiled 11 special teams tackles and played in both postseason contests and assisted on one special team tackle.

In 2016 he played in all 16 regular-season games as a reserve, mainly on special teams and led the club and tied Miami's Michael Thomas for an NFL-high 19 special teams tackles and forced one fumble on special teams. He appeared in all three postseason contests and tallied three special teams tackles. He was selected to the 2016 U.S. Olympic rugby squad, becoming the first Patriots player to participate in the Olympics while a member of the team.

On February 5th, 2017, Ebner was part of the Patriots team that won Super Bowl LI. During the season he appeared in nine regular-season games as a special team's contributor.

On March 13th, 2018, Ebner signed a two-year contract extension with the Patriots. Ebner won Super Bowl LIII with Patriots. During the 2018 season, he appeared in 15 regular-season games as a reserve, contributing mostly on special teams and totaled a team-high 13 special teams tackles and played in all three postseason games as a reserve and made two special teams tackles.