Louis Rees-Zammit gives up on NFL dream and returns to rugby

Just 18 months after leaving rugby union to pursue his dream of playing in the NFL, 24-year-old Louis Rees-Zammit has returned to the UK unsuccessful. The Welshman, formerly a promising young talent with the Welsh national rugby union team alongside his club career with Gloucester, was released from his professional contract in January 2024 to join the NFL’s International Player Pathway, a scheme designed to ease the process of entry into professional American football for athletes born overseas.

At the time, this move garnered massive media attention in the UK, with Rees-Zammit the first high-profile British athlete to ever attempt this move to the NFL, and many held great expectations for the prospect of a British star on American soil. However, the rugby star’s talent never translated to an NFL field, as Rees-Zammit only briefly featured in the pre-season for the Kansas City Chiefs and Jacksonville Jaguars and never actually played a single minute of competitive American football.

American football requires explosive speed from repeated standing starts while rugby requires more fluidity and stamina

So why was such a hyped-up British talent unable to even make a NFL roster? The main reason is the surprising lack of transferability of skills between rugby and American football. Despite the similar physicality of both sports, the speciality of positions within the NFL means that each role on the field requires a unique set of physical and mental abilities, contrasting with rugby’s more ‘well-rounded’ requirements for its athletes.

Rees-Zammit, who plays as a winger in rugby union, tried out at both the wide-receiver and running-back positions in the NFL, both of which are suited to fast, dynamic and agile players, and therefore seemed like a logical fit for the Welshman’s transition. However, despite appearing rapid on a rugby pitch, Rees-Zammit looked visibly slower than his competition on an NFL field, likely struggling both with the presence of the pads and helmet and with the disjointed nature of the sport’s play. American football requires explosive speed from repeated standing starts while rugby requires more fluidity and stamina from its athletes.

Rees-Zammit’s short experiment with American football can be viewed as risk worth taking

Whatever the case, Rees-Zammit’s unsuccessful NFL career has now come to an end, with the Welshman returning to rugby with Premier League side Bristol Bears for the 2025-26 season. Despite his 18 month break from rugby union, the winger returns to the game remaining as one of the most electric players the sports has to offer, with Bristol’s Director of Rugby Pat Lam describing their new acquisition as a “world-class player” with the potential to be “one of the best back three players” in the sport.

Due to his seamless return to rugby, Rees-Zammit’s short experiment with American football can be viewed as risk worth taking. The financial rewards of playing in the NFL made this potential switch a sensible option to pursue, but with Rees-Zammit only spending 18 months attempting American football, it means his whole professional rugby career is still ahead of him. As for the future of British athletes in the sport, it would appear that the designated NFL Academy, based in Loughborough, will remain the most effective producer of British NFL talent, as a switch from professional rugby to American football appears much harder than it first seemed.