Welsh wing Louis Rees-Zammit has sensationally announced that he is quitting rugby to purse an NFL career amid reported interest in his services from League One strugglers Mie Honda Heat.
The Gloucester star, 22, announced the shock move on Tuesday afternoon just minutes before Welsh head coach Warren Gatland revealed his Six Nations squad.
Rees-Zammit scored a trademark wonder try from his own half against Edinburgh in the Challenge Cup on Sunday as the Cherry and Whites won 21-20.
The Rugby Paper in England linked the Welshman with an unlikely move to League One Division One’s winless basement club Honda Heat in a story on 7 January.
Kieran Crowley’s newly-promoted Heat, whose ranks includes double World Cup-winning Springbok Pablo Matera and Argentine star Franco Mostert, are the only team to have lost all five games this season and have conceded a whopping 291 points.
The Mie-based club are already in a dogfight to retain their Division One spot with a relegation/promotion play-off match looking all but certain for the post-season in May.
With a move to a struggling Japanese side feeling unlikely for one of the game’s brightest young stars, nobody was expecting that coveted speedster would quit rugby.
“In a move that I am extremely excited about, I can confirm that I will be joining the NFL’s International Player Pathway program (IPP) in pursuit of earning a spot on an NFL roster in the United States for 2024,” Rees-Zammit posted on X.
“Opting to step away from international rugby has been a painstaking decision but I am extremely excited to take up a once in a lifetime opportunity to pursue a new challenge.”
The 6ft 3in, 195-pound back, who has won 32 Test caps for Wales and scored five tries for his country at his first World Cup last year, has pace in abundance but the odds will be against him making the leap to the NFL in 2024.
Former England winger Christian Wade attempted the same move in 2018 but was limited to three seasons in the Buffalo Bill’s practice squad where he tried to convert to playing as a running back for the franchise.
Rees-Zammit has youth on his side and regardless of how his attempt to transition to American Football turns out he knows that he could step back into rugby at anytime and shine for club and country.
Long-time England-based NFL pundit Neil Reynolds, an anchor for Sky Sports’ NFL coverage, believes the Llandaff product can successfully make the transition to gridiron.
“He's giving up a lot of assured money and status in rugby, so he must be full of confidence that he can make it. Transferable skills are there. I think he will make it... just might take a couple of years.”
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