It was less than a year ago that former Ohio State walk-on Nate Ebner asked the New England Patriots for a leave of absence to follow his Olympic dreams, and now he’s chasing another dream into Super Bowl LI.
The Buckeye lead the NFL in 2016 in special team tackles, finishing the regular season with 17 and the postseason with 20. Despite these league-high numbers, Ebner was snubbed from this Pro Bowl — something he would’ve had to miss anyway. He was sidelined during the second half of the AFC Championship game due to a head injury, but has two weeks to recover ahead of the team’s trip to Houston to face the Atlanta Falcons.