RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Nate Ebner is the only Super Bowl champion who ever played a game of rugby in the Olympics.
The New England Patriots safety and special teams ace scored a try before his late tackle led to a yellow card in the Americans' 26-0 blowout of Brazil on Tuesday in the rugby sevens tournament.
Back home, Bill Belichick stopped practice so his players could watch their teammate compete a world away at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
They saw No. 12 — no, not in honor of Tom Brady — score just as the first half ended and then get yellow-carded in the second half for laying out Brazilian reserve Gustavo Albuquerque on a hit that would have drawn praise in Foxborough but earned him jeers and a two-minute penalty at Deodoro Stadium.