After a year and a half, rugby star Louis Rees-Zammit is ending his adventure in the NFL and drawing a disappointed conclusion.

He moved to the US to prove that a rugby player can also be successful in the NFL.

After just under a year and a half, however, Louis Rees-Zammit’s plan must be considered a failure. The Welshman retired from the NFL at the beginning of August and has now explained what prompted him to take this step.

“I just felt like I was wasting my talent there,” the 24-year-old said in an interview with The Times. He admitted that it was very difficult “to get into the NFL when you haven’t gone through the college system.” “You just don’t get the same opportunities as those guys. I only got minimal playing time, which just annoyed me.”

NFL: “Players were being let go every day”

He was frustrated not only by his own situation, but also by that of the other players who were unable to fulfill their dreams. “It was absolutely brutal. I saw new players every day, players were being let go every day. It was pretty tough,” he complained. He said he was already aware of how things worked in the league when he went to the US.

Rees-Zammit was one of the best rugby players in Wales when he made the surprise decision to try his luck in the NFL at the beginning of last year.

Rees-Zammit failed to make the breakthrough with either the Chiefs or the Jaguars

He initially ended up with the Kansas City Chiefs in March via the Player Pathway Program. However, he did not make more than three appearances in the preseason.

After being released by the Chiefs, he signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars. But by the end of June, he was already hinting at a return to rugby.

Now he wants to focus completely on the sport he “knows best,” Rees-Zammit emphasized a few days ago when he announced his retirement from the NFL.