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Louis Rees-Zammit, the old wing of Gloucester and the country of Wales, was approached about a return to Rugby Union, but said that it would be “stupid” to leave the NFL.
The 24 -year -old has changed sports spectacularly on the eve of the six nations of last year to take a place on the pathway of international NFL players (IPP) and reiterated his commitment to American football on Tuesday morning , after having signed for Jacksonville Jaguars.
“I never thought of [abandoning American football]”Said Rees-Zammit. “I haven’t only left rugby just to try it for a year. I think people would be quite stupid to think that I was just going to leave right away.
“I’m not ready to abandon this and and I don’t think I will never be. I am very grateful for this Jags opportunity to allow me to sign another contract and give it another blow. »»
This determination did not prevent potential contenders from contacting Rees-Zammit in the last month. “People speak, but it was the one I did not focus on,” added the tourist of the British and Irish Lions 2021.
“I think I said that I was not going to leave after a year and that it was my dream of being in this league. People tried because it was four weeks ago when I just took a step of everything to refresh you mentally and physically.
“People tried to reach out, but I certainly didn’t listen to because I want that, you know?” It has always been my dream. I want this to be the thing I do for the rest of my career. »»
Rees-Zammit had initially started as a wide potential receiver on the PPI, but was signed at the Chiefs of Kansas City as a ball carrier. At Jacksonville Jaguars, he will aim to secure a place on the active list of 53 men as a wide receiver. Such a back and forth meant 13 months of changes to his body.
“I went to the international journey of players as a receiver, so I ran much more,” said Rees-Zammit. “I was probably lighter, about 92 kg. And then trying to play the ball carrier, you must obviously put a little more weight because of the position you play and the physicity around this melee line.
“I arrived at around 101 kg, so there was a difference. Then in September, I changed it back as a receiver and I had to change my body much more. I had to be more fluid around my hips. I never had the impression that the weight I put affected my speed, but I just needed to lose a little weight just to feel a little more fluid with the kind of my route and how I can enter and get out of the breaks.
“I am back at around 96 or 97 kg. It’s a bit perfect for me, I think. It was a whole year of transition for my body and trying to change a lot in 13 months. »»
Rees-Zammit’s decision to stay with the Jaguars comes at a time when the franchise had a turnover of out of scope, after having dismissed the head coach Doug Pederson and the managing director Trent Baalke. Jacksonville has since hired the attacking coordinator of Tampa Bay Buccaneers Liam Coen to be their new head coach while their search for a new managing director is underway. The decision to sign Rees-Zammit on the active list was taken by the acting director general, Ethan Waugh.
During all this time, Rees-Zammit was able to focus on improving its rhythm and its leg play in a way that rugby has never authorized.
“I always become faster, above all, with the training we do in the NFL – it’s more explosive [with] Short and clear movements and I was able to focus on my speed, enter and get out of the breaks, “he said.
“It was incredible. In rugby, you have never really emphasized one thing because you had to do a lot of cardio, a lot, you had to be robust to take a hit. Here, I was able to focus much more on my speed and how fluid I can be with my hips, things like that.
Return to rugby has never been an option
When Louis Rees-Zammit’s contract expired with the Jacksonville jaguars in January, a number of options were left on the table except for one: a return to rugby.
Telegraph Sport It was definitively informed that this would not happen, despite Warren Gatland, then in charge of Wales, publicly admitting that “we would like to recover it if it was available to us. Whenever he wants to come back, he would be more than welcome to the fold. ”
You can barely blame wales to want to return, but for Rees-Zammit to have left the NFL after only a year would have been a shame. Going from the care of sport to zero to the manufacture of the training team alone was a remarkable achievement, in particular after having initially trained as a balloon with the chiefs before moving to the receiver to Jacksonville.
The key detail is now that Rees-Zammit has been signed on the active list of jaguars, rather than a term reserves / contracts, to which marginal players are often registered during this period of the Demon.
Does this mean that Rees-Zammit will be absolutely on the list of 53 men of the Jaguars in August? No. It could be transferred to the training team or released while their list is in shape by the free agency in March and after the NFL draft in late April.
But at the moment, it means that Rees-Zammit will train with the team when its dead season is in the early April under April Coen, the new team coach, and ideally he will have a time of practice Significant with Trevor Lawrence, a quarter of the team.
How then it results in a pre-season action and potentially play in the games of the regular season in September remains to be seen, but it is a positive step for a player who has made a courageous movement, leaving a career as That first test player to try to try to do it in the NFL.
