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Jarryd Hayne Done With the NFL

By Carl Cockerham

September 3, 2015; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Jarryd Hayne (38) runs with the football during the fourth quarter in a preseason game against the San Diego Chargers at Levi
September 3, 2015; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Jarryd Hayne (38) runs with the football during the fourth quarter in a preseason game against the San Diego Chargers at Levi /
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Australian rugby superstar Jarryd Hayne gave the NFL a try in 2015 and showed that he had the talent for it. But he was trying to get acclimated to a new game so he wasn’t an NFL star right away. The San Francisco 49ers were looking for him to make a big jump toward that in 2016.

But unfortunately for the team, the only jump Hayne is making is out of the NFL and back into rugby.  Hayne announced Sunday that he is leaving the 49ers and professional football to return to rugby with the Fiji team at the Olympics in Rio this summer.

Hayne told the team’s website, “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.

“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. The 49ers organization has been incredibly supportive throughout my journey and I cannot thank them and the support staff enough.

“I am especially grateful to the strength and conditioning coaches, trainers and medical staff, equipment guys, public relations crew, chefs, logistics, and merchandise staff for their countless hours helping me in many different ways, so I could focus on football.

“Thank you to the fans from down under, as well as those around the world, who stood behind me and supported me along this amazing journey. I also want to thank the boys, especially my running back brothers, for their help and support in my transition to the NFL.

“I wish the team nothing but the best for the upcoming season.”

I understand this is the Olympics but it still makes me wonder if people don’t want to play for the 49ers. Most of the players from the Super Bowl team in 2012 have retired or left and quarterback Colin Kaepernick wants to be traded. Hayne hadn’t scratched the surface of what he could do yet.

Just 17 carries for 52 yards, six passes for 27 yards caught, and eight punts returned, into his career, it’s already over.