Rugby league star Jarryd Hayne retires from NFL for Olympic dream

The Jarryd Hayne story, in which the famous rugby league player turned down a massive contract in Australia to see if he could make it in the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers, was a unique one.

The NFL part of that story is done, though Hayne is off to add another chapter to his curious tale.

The 49ers announced Sunday that Hayne is retiring from the NFL. In a statement, Hayne said he’s retiring from the NFL because he had an offer to join the Fiji Rugby Sevens team for this summer’s Olympic games in Rio.

Hayne is pretty much an athletic adventurer, filling out his resume with cool experiences as he goes.

“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. “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.”

That Hayne even made it on the 49ers last year is pretty remarkable. He had never played American football before he tried out for NFL teams. A good preseason put him on the 53-man roster. He was released, then brought back late in the season, and in total he played in eight regular-season games, starting one at running back. He didn’t put up huge numbers, with 52 rushing yards and 27 receiving yards, but making it at all was a testament to his athletic ability.

“The past 12 months with the San Francisco 49ers have been absolutely incredible,” Hayne said. “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.”

Although the 49ers were talking up Hayne’s potential for 2016 and beyond this offseason, we won’t get a chance to see what kind of NFL player he could have developed into. Another new challenge awaits him.

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab