Hayne retires from NFL to vie for Olympic spot

2:19 PM ET

Australian running back Jarryd Hayne is retiring from the NFL after one season, choosing instead to compete with the Fiji Rugby Sevens in this summer’s 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 a statement. “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.”

“I could not have predicted how far I have come as an NFL player. To not only be able to play in a game but also say that I started a game in the NFL is something that I will remember for a lifetime.”

Jarryd Hayne

Hayne, 28, signed with the San Francisco 49ers as an undrafted free agent in March 2015 after he gave up a lucrative rugby career in Australia to take a shot at the NFL. While Hayne was born in Australia, his father, Manoa Thompson, is Fijian. Hayne previously represented Fiji in the 2008 Rugby …

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