The inspiring story of Nate Ebner's bond with his unconventional
father and its remarkable consequences
Nate Ebner and his father were inseparable. From an early age, they
worked side-by-side in the family junkyard, where part of the job was
dispensing citizen's justice to aspiring robbers, and they worked out
side-by-side in their grungy homemade gym. Even though Nate was a great
peewee football player in football-mad Ohio, he followed his father's
passion for rugby and started playing for the same club as his father
when he was only thirteen years old.
But Nate had to face the fact that there was no way to make a living as
a professional rugby player in this country. So Nate gave his dad the
news that he planned to quit rugby and go out for the football team at
Ohio State University, with an eye toward making the NFL. As a goal for
someone who hadn't even played high school football, this was completely
ridiculous. Without blinking, his father told him that if he gave up
what he had built in rugby, he had to see it through. It was the last
conversation they ever had--the next day, his father was brutally
murdered at work by a would-be robber.
Nate went on to make the Ohio State team and when NFL Draft Day came, he
was selected by the New England Patriots. Three Super Bowl rings later,
his legacy in the sport is secure. But he got another unexpected chance
to honor his father's memory when the Olympics admitted rugby as a sport
for the 2016 Games. Against long odds, he made the team and competed in
Rio in the sport he and his father loved above all others.
An astonishing story of what a father will do for a son and what a son
will do for a father, Finish Strong is a powerful reminder that the
lessons parents embody for their children continue to bear fruit long
after they are gone.
