cious, so next time Im in that position Ill have a similar outcome." Lehman had four birdies on the back nine, including one on No. 18, to pull even with Waldorf and Forsman. Hoch also birdied the 311-yard, par-4 18th, which ranked as the courses second-easiest hole, to reach 3 under.

RIO DE JANEIRO -- 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.It wasnt a football flashback, he insisted.Not really, Ebner said. You just let your natural instincts take over.And those instincts were honed on the pitch, not the gridiron.Ebner won a Super Bowl ring with the Patriots two years ago, but rugby is in his blood. His father, Jeff Ebner, played at the University of Minnesota and taught his son the game when he was a toddler.Jeff Ebner was killed in a robbery in 2008 at the family salvage business, the last father-son conversation over Nates desire to walk on the football team at Ohio State.Ebner said he thinks of his father all the time but he didnt venture a guess as to what his father would think of his boy making it to the Olympics.I dont know, he said. Thats a long thought.And right now hes focused on Fiji, whom the Americans play Wednesday in a make-or-break game.Ebner signed a two-year, $2.4 million extension with the Patriots this spring just before taking a leave of absence to pursue his Olympic dream.Its great for him to actually tick off two big bucket list items, said Dan Panye, CEO of USA Rugby.A Super Bowl and an Olympics.Hes probably the only person in the history of man thats able to say that, Payne said.Ebner will return to the Patriots when his Olympic adventure is over.Its been a great experience. To be a part of something this big and this prestigious, its really an honor, Ebner said. And its an honor to be here with this group of guys that works so hard.Hes hoping to be an example.I hope it changes the game, Ebner said of rugbys return to the Olympics for the first time since 1924. We can kind of be trailblazers for something great in the United States and obviously thats our hopes and dreams for this sport. I love this sport.While football games are 60 minutes of action interrupted by whistles and commercials, rugby sevens consists of two seven-minute halves and a two-minute halftime. With extra time, its over in 20 minutes, tops.But its played on the same field that regular rugby uses, with 14 players instead of 30. So, its a fast-moving, insane shock to the system, drenching players in adrenalin and sweat.Theyre very different, Ebner said of his two sports. Footballs a violent game played right at one another. Theyre very different games. But as you can see at times out here it can get very violent as well.His cardio and aerobic capacities are off the charts -- he doesnt dare step on a scale -- but he figures hell fit right back in at the Patriots training camp because playing Argentina and Brazil has helped prepare him to face the likes of the Jets and the Bills.I definitely think so, Ebner said. Im going to have to gain some more weight, too, because we dont run as much out there. But it should help. No one runs like this and tackles like this (in the NFL). Its unreal.---AP Summer Games website: http://summergames.ap.org---Follow AP Pro Football Writer Arnie Melendrez Stapleton on Twitter: http://twitter.com/arniestapletonDavid Pastrnak Bruins Jersey . There are surprises among the Vezina candidates, but most of the others are standard top-tier performers, even if the two Hart Trophy runners-ups have never been quite as good as they have been through the first half of the season. Derek Sanderson Bruins Jersey . Jay Feely kicked a 41-yard field goal in overtime, and the Cardinals edged the Tennessee Titans 37-34 in overtime after blowing a 17-point lead late in the fourth quarter. http://www.cheapbruinsjerseys.info/authentic-john-moore-bruins-jersey/ . -- Edmontons Val Sweeting is two wins away from a trip to Winnipeg to play in Canadas Road of the Rings in December. Jaroslav Halak Jersey . 9. Price, heading to the 2014 Olympics for Canada, was named the First Star after posting wins in three starts with a 1.00 goals-against average and a .971 save percentage. Charlie Coyle Jersey . The lawyers filed a 33-page amended complaint Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan, expanding on the suit originally filed Oct. 3 in New York Supreme Court. Arbitrator Fredric Horowitz last week refused to compel Selig to testify in the grievance, and Rodriguez then walked out of the hearing without testifying.DES MOINES, Iowa -- Champions Tour players are used to seeing low numbers in the Principal Charity Classic. The results from the first round on the tournaments new course suggest that those days could be behind them. Tom Lehman, Duffy Waldorf, Dan Forsman and Scott Hoch shot 3-under 69 on Friday to share the lead at the Wakonda Club. The Iowa event had been held at Glen Oaks Country Club in neighbouring West Des Moines in 11 of the last 12 years. Hale Irwin, who turns 68 on Monday, topped a group of eight at 70. Defending champion Jay Haas opened with a 71, and tour points leader Bernhard Langer had a 72. Wakonda, which was built 91 years ago, has more sloping fairways, higher rough and arguably trickier greens than Glen Oaks. Even though players were allowed to lift, clean and place their golf balls in the fairways effect because of soggy conditions, low scores were hard to find. The first-round leading score was the highest ever in Iowa -- and every player had at least one bogey. "Its kind of a mystery course, isnt it," Waldorf said. "You get out here on this course and you go, Anything under par looks good." The conditions led to a bunched leaderboard, which also featured four players tied for the first spot for the first time in tournament history. Waldorf played the front nine in even par before a strong stretch put him atop the early leaderboard. Waldorf birdied four of the next five holes -- including successive sand wedge approaches that landed within 5 feet -- to get to 3 under. Though Waldorf had to scramble for pars on the three holes, he was thrilled with his opening round. "If you had given me 69 before the round I would have said Oh yeah," Waldorf said.dddddddddddd Forsmans day was defined by an adventurous birdie on the par-5 13th hole. He hit his drive in the rough, followed by a 5-iron that whacked a tree. He punched his next shot over the green, leaving him about 70 feet from the hole. But Forsman chipped it over a ridge, down a slope and into the cup. "Its a huge bonus," Forsman said. "And yet, when it goes in, I said to my caddie, "Thats why we hit all those pitch shots this week. It was tongue-in-cheek, but I was trying to plug that into the subconscious, so next time Im in that position Ill have a similar outcome." Lehman had four birdies on the back nine, including one on No. 18, to pull even with Waldorf and Forsman. Hoch also birdied the 311-yard, par-4 18th, which ranked as the courses second-easiest hole, to reach 3 under. Haas entered play with a chance to become just the third Champions Tour player to win the same event four times. After a rough start, he put himself in position for a move on Saturday. Haas bogeyed three of his first six holes, and a 6 on the par-5 15th put him 1 over, but he closed with a birdie. Langer needed birdies on holes No. 17 and 18 to get to 72 after a nasty double-bogey on the previous hole. David Frost, third in the Schwab Cup standings, picked up six bogeys en route to a 5-over 77. Unknown Doug Garwood, who had played just three events on the Web.com Tour since 2005, stunned the field by pulling into a tie for the lead after 14 holes. But Garwood bogeyed the 15th and 16th holes and had to settle for a 70. Des Moines avoided rain Friday, but theres a chance the course could see some light showers on Saturday. ' ' '