Louis Rees-Zammit quits rugby in shock move to pursue dream of NFL career

Wales winger Louis Rees-Zammit has stunned the rugby world on the eve of the Six Nations by announcing a career switch to American Football with immediate effect. The 22-year-old made the announcement shortly before Wales’ selection and will head to Florida this week to join the NFL’s International Player Pathway.

Apart from cross-code transfers into rugby league, few international players have left rugby to take up another sport more abruptly. Rees-Zammit said it had long been his “dream” to play in the NFL and his club Gloucester had agreed to release him. The NFL International Player Pathway offers top athletes from around the world the opportunity to earn a spot on an NFL roster.

Even Wales head coach Warren Gatland only discovered the news shortly before a planned lunchtime press conference. “I heard about it about an hour ago,” Gatland said. “There is never a dull moment in Welsh rugby. I spoke to Louis about half an hour ago. It’s a bit of a shock. Things have happened quite quickly in the last 24 hours.”

Gatland added that Rees-Zammit had been advised by his lawyers not to reveal anything to anyone. “Louis said he had an approach on Sunday to go to training camp with the NFL. He called me to give me that information and to thank him for his time at the World Cup. He said he has always dreamed of possibly playing in the NFL and believes that if he doesn’t take this opportunity now, it may not happen in the future.

“I wished him all the best. I have always been a big believer in players seizing the opportunities presented to them. I said, if it doesn’t work out, what are your next steps? He said he would come back to rugby. He just feels there is an opportunity for him and a time to do it.

Rees-Zammit must now hope that skipping the oldest international rugby tournament will pay off in the longer term. The British & Irish Lions winger scored a fine solo try for Gloucester against Edinburgh this weekend, but instead of heading to the pre-Six Nations camp in Wales he will now head to Miami for a completely different purpose pursue. “It’s not about rugby, it’s about my ambition to fulfill my dream and play in the National Football League,” he told Gloucester’s website. “Since I was a little boy, my dad always raised me to be a big NFL fan. He played American football… that’s the sport he loved.

“I have had the incredible honor of playing rugby for my country, which, as a proud Welshman, I have never taken for granted. However, I believe that this is the right time for me to realize another professional goal: playing American football in the USA. Those opportunities don’t come along often.” Gloucester CEO Alex Brown said the club wished him well. “We understand the magnitude of the opportunity. While we are of course sad to see him go, ultimately we cannot stop him.”

Nevertheless, the timing is striking: Wales will open their Six Nations campaign against Scotland at a sold-out Principality Stadium on February 3. Rees-Zammit’s reasoning is that the 10-week training camp in Miami, which will determine whether he has an immediate future, starts this month. He has until April to prove his worth and, if selected to an NFL practice squad, he would join them in August.

Several rugby players have tried their luck in American Football over the years, the most recent being Christian Wade, who earned a spot on the Buffalo Bills’ 2019 pre-season roster but never played a regular NFL game. He subsequently returned to rugby with Racing 92 in France.

The Rees-Zammit thunderclap overshadowed Gatland’s decision to choose a 21-year-old captain in place of Exeter’s Dafydd Jenkins, the second-youngest Welshman to lead his country. There is also a recall for James Botham, grandson of English cricket legend Sir Ian Botham, in the back row, alongside five uncapped players, the Cardiff quartet of Alex Mann, Mackenzie Martin, Evan Lloyd and Cameron Winnett plus Bath’s tight end prop Archie Griffin. However, experienced Taulupe Faletau will sit out the Six Nations with a calf injury, with the influential Jac Morgan and Dewi Lake also missing. Cardiff-born Exeter wing Immanuel Feyi-Waboso is a further absentee as the player has expressed his desire to represent England instead.

Scotland, meanwhile, have named former England prop Alec Hepburn in their provisional squad for the Six Nations. The 30-year-old Exeter Chiefs player won six caps for England in 2018, but after not playing Test rugby for three years he is now eligible through his Scottish-born father. Sale’s clearly quick ex-England U20 winger Arron Reed and Leicester tight end Will Hurd are also included, but there is no room for recent British and Irish Lions Hamish Watson and Chris Harris.