San Francisco 49ers running back Jarryd Hayne has announced his retirement from the NFL in order to represent Fiji in rugby sevens at the 2016 Olympic Games.
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Hayne left NRL side Parramatta Eels to start an NFL career with the 49ers and became a cult figure after several sensational plays in the preseason last year.
But in the regular season Hayne received limited opportunities to impress and ended the campaign with only 79 total yards on 23 touches from scrimmage.
And his brief career with San Francisco has come to an end after he accepted the opportunity to represent the homeland of his father in Rio de Janeiro later this year.
Jarryd Hayne's statement on his NFL retirement. Next up the Olympic 7s! #HaynePlane #Rio2016 pic.twitter.com/vOpq9RHe74
— Sporting News AU (@sportingnewsau) May 15, 2016
"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."