American football instead of rugby: Louis Rees-Zammit is likely to join the Kansas City Chiefs. There have been a few rugby players who have tried their luck in the NFL. However, none of them were as big a star as the Welshman.

Imagine Jamal Musiala or Florian Wirtz suddenly deciding to quit soccer and try their luck in the NFL instead. This may sound completely crazy. But a similar scenario has just played out in rugby.

At the beginning of the year, 23-year-old rugby star Louis Rees-Zammit switched sports and opted for the NFL. Apparently with success: according to “ESPN”, he agreed a contract with the Kansas City Chiefs.

“I’ve had the incredible honor of playing rugby for my country, something I never took for granted as a proud Welshman,” he said earlier this year. “However, I believe this is the right time for me to realize another professional goal of playing American football in the USA. Opportunities like this don’t come around often. “

Made his debut in the English Premiership at the age of 18

A brief look back: Rees-Zammit learned to play rugby with the Cardiff Blues. He was considered an exceptional talent from an early age. At the age of just 18 years and two months, he made his debut in the English Premiership for Gloucester Rugby.

The Welshman became the first 18-year-old in English Premiership history to score a hat-trick of three tries in one game. He had his big international breakthrough at the 2021 Six Nations (the biggest tournament in Europe), playing in all five games, scoring four tries and playing a key role in Wales’ tournament win.

Rees-Zammit played in the outside ruck position. Players in this position have the task of completing moves and scoring tries (similar to touchdowns in American football). Outside three-quarters are usually the fastest players in the team, but are sometimes big and strong and also able to break through tackles.

All of these are skills that are also needed in American football. At 1.91 meters and weighing around 88 kilograms, Rees-Zammit is rather slight for football, but is likely to put on some muscle mass.

The role model Jordan Mailata

The transition from rugby to American football can certainly work. The best example of this is Jordan Mailata, the Philadelphia Eagles’ offensive tackle. Mailata played in the Australian rugby league before turning to American football in 2018. The Eagles selected him in the 7th round of the 2018 NFL Draft. In four seasons so far, he has appeared in 62 NFL games.

However, Mailata was nowhere near as big a name as Rees-Zammit as a rugby player. Tom Hamilton of ESPN writes that Rees-Zammit is “by far the biggest rugby star to ever try to make it in the NFL.”

Rees-Zammit’s decision came as a shock to rugby fans. Especially as he announced his decision in January on the very day that the Welsh Rugby Union published their squad for the Six Nations.

Alex Brown, the CEO of Gloucester Rugby, was sympathetic to the decision: “Although we are obviously sad to see him go, ultimately we are not in a position to dissuade him from taking an opportunity of this magnitude in the NFL.”

Brown had little chance of keeping Rees-Zammit at the club, and therefore in rugby, anyway. His contract would have expired at the end of the season. The club could have simply demanded that the young superstar fulfill his contract. Instead, they accommodated him and decided to terminate his contract early.

“We remain very proud of the role Gloucester Rugby has played in making him the world-class player he has become,” said Brown. “We wish him the best for the USA. He will always be welcome at Kingsholm (Gloucester’s home ground, ed.). “

The move to the NFL is lucrative – but risky

Financially, the move to the NFL should be worthwhile. The average salary in English rugby league is 144,000 pounds (approx. 182,000 dollars) per year. The salary cap for the entire team is 5 million pounds (6.31 million dollars) or 6.4 million pounds (8.08 million dollars) from next season.

In the NFL, the minimum salary for a squad player is around 750,000 dollars.

However, it is by no means guaranteed that Rees-Zammit will make it in the NFL. In addition to Mailita, there have been other rugby players in the past, such as Christian Wade, Alex Gray and Christian Scotland-Williamson, who also switched from rugby to American football – and were unsuccessful. All three did not make it past the practice squad, did not play a single game in the regular season and returned to rugby.

Will Rees-Zammit be any more successful? He was prepared for the new challenge via the NFL’s International Player Pathway Program (IPPP), through which German Jakob Johnson, for example, also made it into the NFL.

However, not everything went smoothly: at the International Program’s Pro Day, he was disappointed with his result in the 40-yard dash because he completed it in 4.44 seconds, after having already delivered a time of 4.3 seconds in training. Nevertheless, the scouts are said to have been impressed by his excellent footwork. Those responsible in Kansas City also seem to see a lot of potential.

A type of player like Samuel or McCaffrey?

The ex-rugby star could take on a hybrid role as a running back and wide receiver with the Chiefs. Examples like Deebo Samuel or Christian McCaffrey of the San Francisco 49ers have proven how valuable and unpredictable these types of players can be.

It would suit Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes to have such a versatile teammate at his side in the future.