After trying his hand in the NFL, Jarryd Hayne is going back to the sport he loves.
The San Francisco 49ers running back on Sunday announced his retirement from the NFL to pursue his dream of playing rugby at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio De Janeiro.
“I am retiring from the NFL because the Fiji Rugby Sevens team reached out to me about the opportunity to join the team for the upcoming Olympics, and I simply could not pass that chance up,” Hayne said in statement Sunday. “The Olympics has been something I have admired since I was a little boy, and it is an opportunity I feel very similar to me joining the NFL.”
An Australia native, Hayne was a rugby superstar in his own country before deciding to switch sports and pursue an NFL career. He signed with the San Francisco 49ers as an undrafted free agent in March 2015 and entered training camp as a running back and punt returner.
Hayne impressed in the preseason and made San Francisco’s 53-man roster. He appeared in eight games for the Niners last season, rushing for 52 yards on 17 attempts and compiling 76 punt returns yards on eight attempts.
Yet the 28-year-old’s NFL career won’t go any further, as he’ll play for Fiji this summer in Rugby Sevens, which will make its debut as an Olympic sport in Rio. Hayne played rugby league (13 men per side) prior to joining the NFL.
Hayne could join a current NFL player in Rio, as New England Patriots defensive back Nate Ebner has a “50-50 chance” of making the United States’ Olympic rugby team.
Thumbnail photo via Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports Images
