Former Wales international Louis Rees-Zammit has become accustomed to the dog-eat-dog world of the American sporting landscape during his short time in the NFL.
Since making the switch from Rugby to American Football at the beginning of this year, Rees-Zammit has gone from being an international player pathway prospect to a member of the Kansas City Chiefs pre-season roster.
Now, a week removed from being cut by the reigning Super Bowl championship, Rees-Zammit has found a new stateside home in the tropical climate of Jacksonville with the Jaguars.
Dubbed ‘London’s team’ the Jaguars who are owned by Fulham Football Club owner Shad Khan, play two of their allocated home fixtures in London each season.
Shifting 1146 miles eastward was not Rees-Zammit’s only move over the past week, with Jags head coach Doug Pederson shifting the former winger from running back to wide receiver.
Clearly viewing the 23-year-old in a different light to his former mentor Andy Reid, Pederson who led the Philadelphia Eagles to Super Bowl glory in 2017 could be the one to help LRZ realise his dreams of making it in the NFL.
Discussing the positional switch in a recent Talksport interview, Rees Zammit said, “I think it’s more of where I feel comfortable playing.
“I’m playing wide receiver here, which has been amazing and it’s completely different to what I was doing at the Chiefs.
“In my eyes it’s been amazing, I’ve always wanted to play wide receiver.”
“With my speed and strength, I think it’s the best position for me. And this is the first time that I have been training as a wide receiver and giving it a real shot.
“Obviously, I was playing running back at Kansas City, and that just didn’t work out for me, and maybe that wasn’t the right position for me.
“I feel really comfortable at wide receiver, and you know I’m trying to learn the game as much as possible, and doing it out wide is great.
Holding no ill will to his former team, the Welshman was keen to thank the Chiefs organisation for taking a punt on him whilst acknowledging that the odds of him cracking a 53-man roster the first time around were always slim.
“But you know, I’m very thankful to them for giving me my first opportunity and first taste of the NFL. I learned so much from them, and it was amazing but unfortunately, that didn’t work out, and now I’m here, and I’m absolutely loving it.
“My thought process was very calm, and this is the first time I’ve played this sport, so I haven’t had massive expectations about making a 53 straight away.
“There’s always a plan in my head that I know I can make it in this sport.
“It’s just about learning as quickly as I can and being able to execute the jobs that I have and that I need to do.
“Obviously, when I got cut, it wasn’t great, but at the same time, I had to stay calm.
“I have got an agent that talks to teams and stuff, and Jacksonville was the best place for me.”
Hinting that should it not work out in the NFL, he could make a return to rugby, Rees Zammit said, “Obviously, rugby is there, but at the same time, I want to make this dream come true, and thankfully, I’ve got another opportunity to do that.”
Finally, whilst it was not his primary draw to the team, the Penarth native expressed his excitement at returning to the UK in 2024.
“It’s amazing! I’m so happy about that because I won’t be able to come home until next year.
“So I’m very happy to go to London and so are all the boys here, they’re buzzing and we’ve got two games there and I’m going to enjoy finally getting back to seeing some British people.”
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