Bill Belichick honors Patriots player chasing Olympic rugby dream

Bill Belichick wore a No. 12 jersey to Tuesday’s joint practice between the New England Patriots and New Orleans Saints, but no, it was not a silent protest for his quarterback Tom Brady and his impending four-game suspension.

Turns out there is another Patriots player who wears 12 — in a different sport.

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With the Patriots, safety and special-teams ace Nate Ebner is No. 43. But with the USA Rugby team in the Summer Olympics, Ebner wears 12 — you can see his name on the back of Belichick’s shirt in his honor, and it appears the rest of the Patriots coaches are wearing the same shirts.

Belichick isn’t the warm and fuzzy type, but he does appreciate other sports — especially lacrosse, but in this case rugby — and gave Ebner, a core special-teamer on the Patriots, the blessing to chase his Olympic dreams. He played the sport at Ohio State and was good enough to make the Men’s Rugby Sevens.

A nice touch indeed and a good show of solidarity for a teammate in Rio. The men’s team is in action on Tuesday, and we shouldn’t be shocked if Belichick sneaks a peek at the action once his own team is off the practice field.

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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!

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