Can’t see it working out at all.
Can’t see it working out at all.
Agreed……the NFL is a brutal school
Can’t see it working out either, he has no history and as a result will get no opportunities
He is certainly talented and a quick lad - NFL is hardly blessed with many skilful players. I reckon 30% of each squad are actually skilful athletes
I’m guessing wide receiver is what he is aiming for
If he thinks taking the high ball in rugby is tough, he will be surprised at the battering he gets on a pass in the NFL. No problem with contact. And there will be bigger, faster athletes on his own team.
For example he’ll have to compete with Mostert:
F
Come on Moz you can say FUCK :)
Fixed, that’s what I meant Dave….hahaha.
He might also be aiming to be a Kick Return Specialist….Louis weighs 98 kg so those 2 positions suits his weight and height….LRZ is a very Talented athlete and I think he might just get it right….the Money is good and if for some reason he does not make it, there will be many Rugby Clubs wanting to sign him…..he is 22 years old and nothing really to loose, but a lot to gain.
I know it was what you meant Moz - I was just disappointed with the solitary ‘F’
Taking a high ball over your shoulder is a harder skill than most of the high balls he will have received facing them in rugby
Will be interesting to see how far he goes , will be very surprised if he makes it
Agree M, even if he flops he will learn something and toughen up. He seems a little too ‘nice’. Returning at the beginning of 2026 might be the move.
I watched the highlights between the Buccaneers vs Eagles…impressive big Athletes operating at a fast pace…besides catching the Ball over his shoulder, these Guys crash into you from all angle’s….I also wonder if he might feel impaired having to wear all that protective Gear…will be interesting to see how the young man performs….like you say Moz, coming back in 26, will be smart in preparation for WC 27.
Dammit,
Well, if this guy could do it...
Nice pic Pakie : ) Naas Haas Botha didn’t have to run with the ball…the guy didn’t like contact much….but Kicking was his favourite thing : )
Naas didn't actually play in the NFL, he just went for trials. Carter also tried his hand at NFL thinking it would be an easy pension but he was really shock how intense they are and met with the presidents of one of the team. There is a pod cast of him talking about it. He said that the guy gave him the ball and told him to practice kicking it. He said he tried a few kicks and realise it is complete different to a rugby ball and then just left it there.
Naas says even back in the 80s, they are really strict on professionalism and players get cut on day 1. If you are not fit in the pre-season, you don't get picked.
I think Wade, English winger managed to play a few games, but only managed to play 7 and then got dropped and now back in England playing rugby.
Naas also said on Reese, he has the athletic skills but the difference is in rugby you get tackled with the ball. In NFL you get tackled without the ball, ALL THE TIME.
They will also tell him he needs to put on some muscles.
He is still young, 22, so maybe a break from Wales and the rugby world would put some perspective. He is super talented, but just need time to settle into rugby life and not be thrusted into the spot light. He has a long career ahead of him
Thanks KC, never much followed that part of Naasie's story, just knew he was dabbling with it at one stage and then ran across this pic the other day.
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The 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 bombshell announcement shortly before Wales’s squad announcement and will leave for Florida this week to join the NFL’s International Player Pathway. The Breakdown | England’s long-term future looks far rosier with pathway to World Cup success Aside from cross-code transfers to rugby league, few international players have quit rugby to play another sport in more abrupt fashion. Rees-Zammit said it had long been his “dream” to play in the NFL and his club Gloucester have agreed to release him. The NFL International Player Pathway offers elite athletes from around the world the opportunity to earn a place on an NFL roster.
Even the Wales head coach Warren Gatland only discovered the news shortly before a scheduled lunchtime press conference. “I learned about it about an hour ago,” said Gatland. “There’s never a dull moment in Welsh rugby. I spoke to Louis probably about half an hour ago. It’s a little bit of a shock. Things have happened pretty quickly in the last 24 hours.”
Gatland also added that Rees-Zammit had been advised by his lawyers to reveal nothing to anyone. “Louis said he had an approach on Sunday to go and do a training camp with the NFL. He rang me to give me that information and to say thanks for his time at the World Cup. He said he’s always dreamed of potentially playing in the NFL and feels that if he doesn’t take this opportunity now it might not happen again in the future.
“I wished him all the best. I’ve always been a great believer in players taking opportunities that are presented for them. I said if it doesn’t work out, what are your next steps? He said he’d come back to rugby. He just feels there’s an opportunity for him and a time to do that.”
Rees-Zammit must now hope that skipping rugby’s oldest international tournament pays longer-term dividends. The British & Irish Lions winger scored a fine solo try for Gloucester against Edinburgh at the weekend but rather than heading into Wales’s pre-Six Nations camp he is now off to Miami in pursuit of a very different goal. “It is nothing about rugby, it is about my ambition to make my dream come true and play in the National Football League,” he told Gloucester’s website. “As a little boy my dad always brought me up to be a big NFL fan. He used to play American football...that is the sport he grew up loving.
“I have had the incredible honour of playing rugby for my country which, as a proud Welshman, I’ve never taken for granted. However, I believe that this is the right time for me to realise another professional goal of playing American football in the US. Those opportunities don’t come around very often.” Gloucester’s chief executive Alex Brown said the club wished him well. “We understand the size of the opportunity. Whilst we are naturally sad to see him leave, ultimately, we are not able to dissuade him.”
The timing, even so, is striking, with Wales due to open their Six Nations campaign against Scotland a sold-out Principality Stadium on 3 February. Rees-Zammit’s reasoning is that the 10-week training camp in Miami, which is set to determine if he has an immediate gridiron future, commences this month. He has until April to prove his worth and, if selected for an NFL practice squad, would join up with 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 place on Buffalo Bills’ pre-season roster for 2019 but never played an NFL regular-season game. He has subsequently returned to rugby with Racing 92 in France.
Rees-Zammit’s bolt from the blue overshadowed Gatland’s decision to pick a 21-year-old captain in Exeter’s Dafydd Jenkins, the second youngest Welshman to lead his country. There is also a recall for James Botham, grandson of England 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-head prop Archie Griffin. The experienced Taulupe Faletau will sit out the Six Nations with a calf injury, however, with the influential Jac Morgan and Dewi Lake missing as well. The Cardiff-born Exeter wing Immanuel Feyi-Waboso is a further absentee, the player having expressed his wish to represent England instead.
Can’t see him making it