What's next for Zammit?
From leaving his rugby career to his recent Kansas City Chiefs signing.
Louis Rees Zammit stepped onto the field for his country for the first time in 2020 at just 20-years-old. Since then, his rise to rugby stardom has been extraordinary. Receiving 32 caps for Wales, as well as an appearance for the British and Irish Lions, alongside playing for Gloucester Rugby. Then in January 2024, despite a promising future within a rugby career, he made the shock announcement that he was leaving the rugby pathway and in turn he left the entirety of Wales, and all rugby fans, wondering why on earth he would do that?
At just seven years old Zammit began to play rugby for his home club in Llandaff, however unlike many sports stars he didn’t realise straight away that it was his calling. He told The Rugby Journal,
“I wasn’t a massive rugby nause or anything until I went to Hartpury, so I didn’t really know the players or the teams,” he said, “but once you get there that’s all they talk about, all the good players, the internationals, the Premiership, that’s where I got the knowledge – that’s when I decided I wanted to play in the Premiership.”
Breaking into the Gloucester senior team during the 2019-20 season, he kickstarted his career and became the club’s youngest ever Premiership player at 18 years old. He was also Europe’s youngest player and try scorer in 2019, and soon became well-known for his nimble speed allowing him to outrun defenders. It was a well-known fact that if he broke free from a maul, there was no chance of anyone catching up to him. Then came the name Rees-Lightning.
He entered the Wales squad with a bang, scoring multiple tries in his first few games but soon this standard was expected to be consistent throughout and he suffered a confidence blow a few caps in, after fumbling a few passes and missing some easy scores. He received some backlash off internet trolls, but this didn’t last long as he soon picked the pace up again. In the Summer of 2021, he was selected for the British and Irish Lions team, and again was the youngest member to be selected for the squad since 1959.
As his success grew, so did his popularity and in December he starred in a BBC documentary called, ‘Being Louis Rees Zammit.’ Echoes of a need for a bigger future became prominent during the viewing of the show as Louis said, 'Rugby has been amazing for me, but I want more, I want more than rugby.' During the documentary, his teammates commented on his love for a holiday, calling him the nickname 'St Tropez away'.
'I want a good life,' Rees-Zammit said in the documentary. With his Adidas and BMW sponsorships, LRZ is already living the high life but maybe it’s not the money that he wants ‘more’ of. After all he has shown an intent on becoming the best player in the world, not specifically saying in which sport, and it seems that he feels a need to step outside of his rugby comfort zone in order for this to happen.
Wales teammate, Dan Biggar said, 'He's very un-Welsh in that he wants to put himself out there.' In this modern society therein lies the problem, many are quick to dampen down on aspirations for a big future and keyboard warriors are quick to take to social media, to add to the decreasing confidence of young players. These trolls were quick to say that men like Zammit and Gavin Henson, who was named the ‘pretty boy’ during his rugby career, were there on the pitch only for the fame, glory and status of being a golden boy – gone were the comments from a few games back where they had been cheering him on as he scored tries for his country.
The sports herd mentality does tend to go down this route as soon as a player underperforms, and many athletes have spoken out about the abuse they have received over the years. George North spoke out in 2020, about how he has often taken weeks off social media to take a break from the comments and how even during his weekly shop at Tesco he has received abuse. Telling Wales Online,
"People think it’s okay to say whatever they want. To have that [online abuse] constantly on you all the time, it’s hard.
"Not just on the players but it’s the effect it has on your family as well. It just seems like people think it is okay to do it and it does have a bearing.”
But for Zammit, being so young and on the whole, a much-loved player, and with the average career for a rugby player lasting for at least another 10 years, it came as a surprise when he announced on January 16th his plans to leave rugby behind for NFL.
Head Coach, Warren Gatland, said in an interview that it was “a little bit of a shock” when he discovered that Louis Rees Zammit wouldn’t be up for Six Nations selection after deciding to pursue a career in American Football.
So far, it’s been two weeks since the end of the Six Nations and Wales came last in the table of rankings, earning the wooden spoon. So, was it true that the talent of Zammit was sorely missed by Wales?
However, with an almost entirely new Welsh side this year, Zammit wasn’t the only player missing from the team; after the retirement of Alun Wyn Jones, Dan Biggar and Leigh Halfpenny, as well as Tipuric, Faletau suffering from a calf injury and Liam Williams moving to play for Japan.
But, as the games took place Zammit still showed his support from across the pond, watching and cheering for his Welsh team. The same way that his ex-teammates have shown support for his move. After his transfer to Florida in January, where he left not just his family but also his girlfriend Saffron Barker (with whom he has since split up with), he began training within the ten-week International Player Pathway Program.
During the start of the Six Nations, Louis joined a BBC Wales Scrum V video call and explained the reason behind the sudden career change,
"It’s always been something I’ve wanted to do since I was a young age and I guess I thought now it was the right decision to do it. I thought it was the right time. Now I’m here, I’m absolutely loving training and my pursuit to be in the NFL is alive. I’m excited to see what the next ten weeks hold.
"It was the hardest decision I’ve ever made. I sat down with my family and went through everything and I came to the decision that I wanted to give it a go now, whilst I’m still young. If it works out, then I’ve got 10 years to try and play the sport that I’ve loved growing up watching or I come back to rugby and play the sport I love playing. I’m just excited to see what happens and see what the future holds."
He also told other interviewers that, “Dad played American football in the UK, he never played rugby,” stating that he had always had an interest but never had the opportunity that he does now to play American Football professionally.
As one of the 16 players, selected for the Player Pathway, who are drawn from eight nations (in an attempt to increase the number of international players within the league), he will be eligible to fill a special 17th slot on the practice squad of any of the 32 NFL franchises if he gets selected.
Full salaries are not disclosed, but Hook estimates Rees-Zammit would be earning comfortably in excess of the $216,000 awarded to NFL practice squad players, although he will not be earning the NFL's minimum wage for a rookie player on a roster, which will be $795,000 in 2024.
Alongside this, Zammit started his own sports hydration energy drink company within which he will gain profits, on top of possible brand deals and partnerships from America. Maybe this was another reason for his choice to move, as it is generally seen as more acceptable to engage with brand deals in America and a wider variety are available to sports players.
As of the 26th March, Louis signed with Roc Nation Sports Management which is owned by Jay-Z, ahead of the scouts testing, in hopes of signing for a team. Doing well in all of the other tests, the most pressure was on his speed test because with a nickname like Lightning you can’t be slow. He did not disappoint however, and managed to secure a time of 4.44 seconds during a 40 yard sprint.
On 29th March, it was confirmed that Zammit had signed a three-year contract for the Superbowl Champions, Kansas City Chiefs. Now, he will try to win a place on Kansas City's final 53-man roster for the 2024 season, which begins in September. It has been announced that his designated positions are Running Back and Wide Receiver, but if he does not make it, the BBC has reported that he is likely to spend his first season on Kansas City's practice squad.
And so, the question still stands – will LRZ’s decision to leave for America be as successful as he hopes?
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