There was no shortage of fanfare when Welsh rugby star Louis Rees-Zammit made the switch to American football, but his journey in the NFL has been anything but straightforward.
Since signing with the Kansas City Chiefs in early 2024 and later joining the Jacksonville Jaguars, Rees-Zammit is yet to make his debut on the field. Now, the 24-year-old speedster has set a loose deadline for his gridiron ambitions, with a possible return to rugby still on the cards.
“International players usually get two to three years to make it in the NFL,” Rees-Zammit told talkSPORT’s Hawksbee and Jacobs show. “So I wanted to take the chance while I’d still have time to come back to rugby if it didn’t work out.”
Rees-Zammit made a name for himself in rugby union, earning caps for Wales, winning the 2021 Six Nations, and touring with the British and Irish Lions. When he joined the NFL through the league’s International Player Pathway programme, he suggested he had ticked off his rugby goals.
But his latest comments suggest the rugby chapter might not be closed just yet.
“I’m 24 now, so I probably have one or two more years to try make it, depending on how this year goes,” he said. “If I return to rugby at 25 or 26, I like to think I’ll still be able to play at the top level.”
Photo: David Eulitt/Getty Images
