“When you’re super talented and have options, you do what is best for you,” is how former New York Giants cornerback Jason Bell explains Louis Rees-Zammit’s unexpected return to rugby union from the NFL.
Less than a week after Rees-Zammit’s sudden announcement that he is leaving Jacksonville Jaguars on the eve of the 2025 season, the Wales coach, Steve Tandy, all but named him in his first squad for the forthcoming Autumn Nations games against Argentina, Japan, New Zealand and South Africa, describing his impending return as “a great boost to the game, to fans and to coaches”.
The initial explanation for the premature end of Rees-Zammit’s American dream last week was that it was down to a combination of bad luck, injury and the sacking of the Jaguars’ coaching staff who recruited him from Kansas City Chiefs during the close season. Just a few months ago he appeared determined to stay in the NFL for at least one more year. “I didn’t leave rugby just to try it for a year, people would be pretty dumb to think that I’d leave straight away,” he said in February.
Rees-Zammit had made sufficient progress in Jacksonville to make their 90-strong training squad but the back injury sustained last month, which reduced his chances of making their 53-man active roster for the coming season, prompted a sudden reassessment. With head coach Doug Pedersen and his assistants having been dismissed in April, something else appears to have changed in the interim.
As Bell implies, Rees-Zammit’s options have been increasing elsewhere. In addition to the prospect of the rest of Wales following Tandy’s lead by greeting him as a prodigal son, the 24-year-old is understood to have been approached to join R360, the proposed rebel league whose backers have reportedly signed pre-contract agreements with 160 players in anticipation of a planned launch next year.
While money has never been Rees-Zammit’s main motivation – he has walked out on a £712,000 minimum salary at Jacksonville – the prospect of earning up to £1m for a 12-game season in 12 months’ time would have understandable appeal.
“Professional sport gives you a very short window,” says Bell, who watched Rees-Zammit closely in training this summer preparing for his role as an analyst on Sky Sports. “You’re always fighting Father Time.
“Louis should be very proud of himself. In the NFL we celebrate players who can play two different positions. The fact he even attempted to play a totally different sport at the very highest level is amazing. This year he could have made the team from what I saw in training, you never really know.
“I’m the wrong person to ask because I wasn’t supposed to make it. I wasn’t picked up in the draft, but ended up playing in the NFL for eight years.”
Other experts disagree on whether Rees-Zammit ever really stood a chance of making it in the NFL. After successfully coming through a 16-week training camp run by the NFL’s International Player Pathway last year, he signed a three-year contract with the Chiefs last summer, but after playing three pre-season games he was released to the Jaguars last August, before signing a new 12-month deal in February.
For all his talent and speed, by NFL standards even his athleticism is not exceptional – the best time he recorded for the 40-yard dash at Kansas of 4.43 seconds is significantly slower than the 4.20 benchmark set by the Chiefs’ fastest wide receiver, Xavier Worthy – while technically and tactically he was understandably off the pace.
In retrospect, his debut friendly appearance for the Chiefs last August, coincidentally against the Jaguars who signed him a few weeks later, was symptomatic of the confusion surrounding the entire escapade, with the coaching staff unsure how to use him. Wearing a No 9 shirt he was used in four different positions – running back, kick returner, kicker and as part of the special teams on punt coverage – and contributed a total gain of four yards.
“I think Rees-Zammit is a fantastic athlete, but in terms of pace and athleticism, there’s maybe 500 of those guys in Florida alone,” says double Super Bowl winner turned BBC pundit Osi Umenyiora, who was born in London before enjoying a stellar NFL career with the New York Giants and Atlanta Falcons. “You have to be superior athletically to be able to learn the game and then break through.”
Bell believes Rees-Zammit will return to rugby as a better player, having picked up new skills and matured as a person because of his once-in-a-lifetime experience.
“He will have learned different ways to attack people in the open field, different ways to attack in tight spaces,” Bell says. “He has new skills that opponents in rugby won’t have seen before. His mindset will have matured. He really stepped out of his comfort zone.”
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Gloucester’s defence coach Dom Waldouck, who coached him for six years at Kingsholm, also praises his mentality but predicts that it will take time to readjust physically to the differing demands of rugby. The pair have stayed in touch during his NFL sojourn, with Rees-Zammit visiting the Gloucester dressing rooms at a Premiership game against Leicester last winter.
“Physically he has changed a little bit,” Waldouck says. “The athletic profile of NFL athletes is different to rugby players, so he’s a bit bigger, more muscular.
“NFL is a very anaerobic sport, whereas rugby is more aerobic, so it will take some time for him to get back up to speed. But Louis is such a talented footballer that he’ll be able to adjust. Rugby is in his blood so it shouldn’t take him too long.
“This is not a failure, it’s just a chapter in his life that is now closed. He has incredible self-belief, which he will have needed to go there in the first place. He has what I call a ‘Championship mindset’. He believes he is going to be great, and therefore he is great.
“That mindset is super rare, even in elite sport. The human brain isn’t designed to think like that, but he will be ready to rip and show rugby what they’ve been missing.”
The former Wales and Lions winger Alex Cuthbert is less concerned about the physical transition that may be required, and is backing Rees-Zammit to make an impact as soon as he is playing again. His biggest challenge in the short term may be in securing a club contract, as with just six weeks until the start of the European season most budgets are already allocated.
Gloucester are understood to have first refusal, but are already close to the salary-cap threshold, with neighbours Bristol believed to be exploring their options. The takeover of Newcastle Falcons by Red Bull, as revealed by the Guardian in June, presents another intriguing possibility as the energy drinks company undoubtedly have the resources and crave association with global stars.
“I’m not even sure he needs a club to play for Wales,” Cuthbert says. “He is exactly what Welsh rugby has been missing. It’s been so negative in Wales for so long, but Louis will bring excitement off the pitch and an X-factor on it. He can be our Henry Pollock.
“After 18 months in the NFL he will be a better professional, will be in better shape and will bring a huge number of casual fans with him. It’s the perfect time for him to come back, as there’s a new Wales coach and two years until the World Cup.”
