The late, great Tom Petty wrote the song that, ultimately, defined Louis Rees-Zammit’s American football adventure. “Runnin’ down a dream, that never would come to me …” Twelve months ago Rees-Zammit was in New Orleans watching the Superbowl and still hoping to carve out a multimillion dollar NFL career. Now here he is, back in a Welsh rugby shirt and eager to make up for lost time.
Sliding doors and all that. This weekend in America all roads lead to this year’s Superbowl in California: the Seattle Seahawks v the New England Patriots . But as Wales’s 25-year-old prodigal son prepares for the contrasting vibes and smells of a sodden Twickenham in February, he insists he still has no regrets about the gridiron flirtation that removed him from Six Nations circulation for two years.
That might sound fanciful given the lightning-quick Rees-Zammit never started a regular-season NFL game. Having abruptly left rugby in January 2024, he had a few pre-season run-outs for the Kansas City Chiefs before being released to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Rees-Zammit made their 90-strong training squad only for a back injury and a coaching reshuffle to limit his opportunities. In August last year, he returned to rugby. When he calls the past two years “a whirlwind” he is underplaying it.
At least his mother, Maxine, is pleased to have her boy home. “My mum didn’t really like American football too much – she was very happy to see me come back,” Rees-Zammit says. In his view, though, the experience made him a more versatile athlete and a better man. “I learned a lot about myself. It was a completely different culture, a completely different game. I think it’s matured me a lot.”
He is also 6kg heavier, slightly quicker and, he believes, more explosive through contact: “I think my agility is a lot better. Now I feel like when I see half a gap I can properly go into it and use my footwork to get through. Previously I was very reliant on my pace. I feel like I’ve got more variety to my game. That’s only going to help me.”
On a damp lunchtime at his club, Bristol, it is good to see a competitive glint back in his eye. No young player enjoys rejection, at home or abroad. And while Rees-Zammit’s iron-clad confidence remains a super-strength, he does now concede that breaking America was always an outside bet. “Essentially it was a shot to nothing. A bit of a punt,” he says. “But you’ve got to try and back yourself. It’s the same in life. You have to have confidence otherwise someone else is going to take your job.”
He also now appreciates that being a diehard NFL fan is very different from the reality of playing it for a living. “I prefer watching it than I did playing it. It’s so different to rugby. To be able to get my hands on the ball and create something out of nothing … that’s my ability. You can’t really do that in American football.”
On the plus side he gave it a good rattle. “If I’d never done it I would always have regretted it,” he says. “Although I didn’t make the roster I still got an experience you can’t really buy.” One memory, in particular, will never leave him. It was the March day he signed on the dotted line at the Chiefs’ HQ at Arrowhead Stadium and then headed into town with his family for a celebratory meal. “I was walking down the street and fans were shouting: ‘Good luck!’ and ‘Let’s go!’ out of their car windows. That was pretty crazy. It made me feel famous for a second.”
While he is occasionally recognised in Cardiff – “Well, a little bit but it’s not the same, is it?” – not everyone rushed to welcome him back. “I haven’t really had anything from opposition players but you obviously get it from fans. Then again I was getting it from fans before I left!” The inevitable jibes – ‘Where’s your helmet?’ – have been accompanied by harsher online messages. “People trying to call you a failure because you tried a different sport. Just trying to put you down really.
“Even when they’re trying to be offensive I find it quite funny. The fact is I went over and gave it a go. I’ve had a mad experience, met some amazing people and learned so much. You’ve got to be brave to back yourself and go and do something you love. I always loved watching American football but it didn’t work out.”
So what is his primary motivation now? “To wake up every day and try to be the best rugby player in the world. I feel I have the ability and skill set to do that. It’s about performing consistently. Ultimately that’s what the best do.”
Few would dispute Wales will benefit from his return. He has scored 16 tries in 35 Tests and the Six Nations suits him. As a 20-year-old he helped Wales win the title in 2021, claiming the try of the tournament award with a glorious chip and chase score against Scotland. Last time he faced England there was also a smartly-taken interception try from halfway at the Principality Stadium in 2023.
After the Six Nations he will be back there with Bristol for next month’s Big Day Out against Harlequins and his Bears coach Pat Lam believes that picking him at full-back, his position on Saturday, is definitely the way ahead for club and country. “He’s got a kicking game and the speed to get himself out of trouble,” Lam says. “He’s also an excellent communicator. And when he has drier conditions we know what he can do. His pace is ridiculous, it really is.”
On that front, even Rees-Zammit would enjoy a sprint-off – “I’m up for it” – against the Prem’s two other speed kings, Adam Radwan and Henry Arundell. For now, though, his priority is to stand firm alongside his home-based teammates as the furore over the future of Welsh domestic rugby intensifies. While Rees-Zammit is not directly affected by the Ospreys’ potential demise he has plenty of sympathy. “I feel for the boys … they have to live it every day. I’ll stand by my teammates. You have to. It’s not on what they’re doing.”
In that turbulent context, an uplifting performance against England would be helpful. While he was in the US he watched all Wales’s games – “It was obviously tough to see them losing” – and coming home has rekindled his passion for representing his homeland. “I was so focused on trying to make it over there that I didn’t miss it,” he says. “But I guess it has made me realise what it means to play for Wales.
“Even when times are tough you want to play your best when it’s Wales v England. It’s one of those games you can always get up for. We haven’t really given our fans much over the past few years. We want them to see an identity in the way we play. Then I think results will come off the back of it. We’ve got good players and a good coaching staff in now. It’s just about putting it all together.”
Given Welsh rugby’s present turmoil, a bolt or two of Rees-Lightning this weekend would be heaven sent.
