Louis Rees-Zammit, a 22-year-old Welsh rugby player who was viewed as having a very bright future in that sport, has instead decided to try to make it in the NFL.
Rees-Zammit announced today that he is joining the NFL’s international player pathway program, which gives promising athletes training in American football with the involvement of NFL scouts. After the 10-week program, Rees-Zammit will be eligible for the 2024 NFL draft, and if he’s not drafted he can sign as an undrafted free agent.
Only one player from the program has been drafted: Jordan Mailata, who had played rugby in Australia and then trained for football in the United States before the Eagles selected him in the seventh round of the 2018 NFL draft. Mailata, who started every game for the Eagles this season, is currently on a four-year, $64 million contract, dwarfing the kind of money he could make in rugby.
The 6-foot-3, 200-pound Rees-Zammit is not the kind of freakish physical specimen that Mailata is, but he’s a talented athlete who says the NFL has been a lifelong dream.
“I’m only 22 now and I’ve done quite a bit in rugby,” Rees-Zammit said, via the BBC. “The international player pathway is in January and it just so happens the Six Nations is in February, and I think now is the perfect time with my age and having to pick up a new sport. It’s nothing about rugby, it’s about my ambition to make my dream come true and play in the NFL. As a little boy my dad has always brought me up to be a big NFL fan and growing up he used to play American football, so it’s kind of to continue his legacy and hopefully go beyond and make him proud.”
Alex Brown, the chief executive of Rees-Zammit’s rugby team, said they understand Rees-Zammit’s reasoning for leaving.
“We understand the size of the opportunity before Zam and his lifelong ambition to play in the NFL,” said Brown. “Whilst we are naturally sad to see him leave, ultimately, we are not able to dissuade him from taking an opportunity of this magnitude with the NFL.”
It’s unclear what position Rees-Zammit will play. He may simply try to showcase his skills as an athlete and let NFL teams tell him where they think he can contribute.