Australia's most famous NFL player has unexpectedly left the league.

San Francisco 49ers player Jarryd Hayne — known affectionately as the Hayne Plane — has once again taken off, but this time it is to chase an Olympic dream.

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The former Australian national rugby league player announced on Monday Australian time that he is off to join the Fiji rugby sevens team for the Rio Olympics.

"I simply could not pass that chance up," Hayne told the media. "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."

We're going to miss seeing DBs bounce off of @JarrydHayne! https://t.co/f1UOP9Wu38 — NFL (@NFL) May 15, 2016

It's a similar story to the one we heard less than two years ago. In October 2014, Hayne announced to the world that he was off to chase his childhood dream of playing in the NFL. He debuted with the 49ers almost a year later in September 2015, after having a successful preseason run.

It was a remarkable story. Hayne, who had been raised by his single mum in housing commission in the south-western Sydney suburb of Minto, threw in a multi-million dollar contract in Australia and moved to the U.S. with no NFL contract and no NFL experience. His moves for a newbie impressed even the most seasoned NFL watchers.

But just eight months later, Hayne was done. On to a new, bigger dream.

It was fun while it lasted. Image: Getty Images

But fear not, as you burn your number 38 jersey and shed a tear for the Hayne Plane, there are some other Australian stars making it big in America that you can put your hopes and dreams on. Granted, they don't have a similar rise to fame as Hayne — most played college football — but they are all you have left.

Former Australian Rules football (AFL) player Adam Gotsis, who hails from Melbourne, just got drafted for the Denver Broncos after playing college football with Georgia Tech. He is definitely one to watch.

Tom Hackett, who kicked the Sherrin (AFL football) around with Gotsis in Melbourne as a kid, got signed as a free agent for the New York Jets. Following his stellar career at the University of Utah, it was widely believed he would get drafted.

Another success story is punter Lachlan Edwards, who played at Sam Houston State University and was also drafted for the New York Jets. He first punted a ball in 2012 in a Melbourne park where he was spotted by his university professor, according to ESPN. He was then encouraged to put together a video and send it to American universities. It's not the Hayne story, but it's good enough.

Then there is Blake Muir, who grew up in the Sutherland Shire of Sydney and played American football as a kid. He joined Hayne at the 49ers in the last month, after he was added as an undrafted free agent. He had previously played college football at Bayer Bears. If Hayne had continued on, there was a fair chance the two would make history by becoming the first Aussies to play NFL offense together — with Muir blocking for Hayne.

So in good news, the Hayne Plane may have departed but there's still a lot of Aussie success stories to keep you in the NFL game. Go forward, Hayne lovers, at least the Olympics will be interesting.

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