Jacksonville Jaguars' Louis Rees-Zammit gave up rugby stardom to pursue his NFL dream

Everyone keeps asking Welsh rugby star Louis Rees-Zammit about his adjustment to American football through the NFL's International Pathway Program, which has taken him from Penarth, Wales, to Kansas City and now to the Jacksonville Jaguars practice squad as a wide receiver.

But imagine Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence or running back Travis Etienne being plopped into Premiership Rugby, the top division in the United Kingdom where Rees-Zammit was a star from 2018-2024 — beginning at the age of 18.

"It's a completely different game," Rees-Zammit said Thursday of rugby, a sport that helped give birth to football, according to sources such as the Pro Football Hall of Fame. "[An American football player] being able to learn that, just like I'm trying to learn football ... it's challenging. There's the contact, without wearing pads. You've got to play both offense and defense. It's a free-flowing game, not stop-start. You've got to stay on the run, even when you don't have the ball."

And one of the goals Rees-Zammit hopes to realize during his time with the Jaguars is a bit of an international exchange.

“I’m trying to teach them a thing or two, but it’s game week; we’re fully focused on football," he said of the Jaguars game at Miami on Sunday (1 p.m. CBS). "Maybe in the bye week I’ll show them a few things.”

Jaguars have signed three IPP players

Rees-Zammit is the third player from the IPP to wear a Jaguars uniform. Ayo Oyelola (England) was a safety in 2022-23 and Patrick Murtagh (Australia) was a tight end who only lasted through part of 2024 training camp before a season-ending knee injury.

Oyelola played American football in England and Murtagh was an Australian Rules Football player.

Established in 2017, the IPP Program provides elite international athletes the chance to compete in the NFL. Players began training in the United States in January at IMG Academy then at a pro day in March.

Teams can reserve a 17th spot on their practice squad roster for an IPP player.

Louis Rees-Zammit is battling long odds

Rees-Zammit was labeled one of the three IPP players to watch out of the class of 15 players signed for the 2024 season by nfl.com. He first played running back for the Chiefs, was cut, then quickly signed by the Jaguars.

As a practice squad player, it would take a long chain of events for Rees-Zammit to be activated for a game, especially given the depth of the Jaguars wide receiver room. Ayelola, for example, was never activated in two years and played only in preseason games.

Five of the 37 IPP players who have been on NFL rosters since the program began either played in regular-season games or been on an active roster: offensive tackle Jordan Mailata (Australia) with Philadelphia, tight end Jakob Johnson (Germany) with New England, defensive end Efe Obada (Nigeria) with Washington, tight end Sammis Reyes (Chile) with Washington and defensive tackle David Bada of Germany (Detroit).

Jaguars offensive coordinator Press Taylor said Rees-Zammit's development has the added factor of changing positions. But he likes what he's seen in the limited time he's been on the team.

“He's got a great accent, so he’s fun to talk to," Taylor said. "It's just a new beginning and even playing football is new, but playing receiver is new. Right now, it's just him kind of trying to get some sort of understanding of what we call things so he can play fast and work his way through. But as far as the individual drills he's done a good job so far. It'll be fun just to watch him continue to grow.”

Louis Rees-Zammit is fast ... very fast

Rees-Zammit was clocked a 4.43 in the 40-yard dash at the IPP Pro Day at the University of South Florida. In one rugby game, he was timed at 24.2 mph.

The fastest NFL run clocked last season was Seattle wide receiver D.K. Metcalf at 22.23 mph on a 73-yard pass reception. Tyreek Hill of Miami, generally considered the fastest player in the NFL, was 22.01 mph on his fastest run in 2023.

Rees-Zammit might be weighed down by standard NFL equipment, but that's still motoring.

Louis Rees-Zammit was a huge UK rugby star

Rees-Zammit began playing pro rugby for Gloucester of Premiership Rugby, England’s top rugby division. From 2018 to early 2024, he had 210 points in 77 games. He also represented Wales (2019-23) and the British & Irish Lions (2021) and scored 105 points in 41 international appearances.

Rees-Zammit began representing Wales in international competition for the country's under-18 team. He played for the senior Wales team in 2020 at the age of 19 and then in the 2020 Six Nations Championship. Wales went on to win the 2021 Six Nations Championship and Rees-Zammit scored the game-winning try against Scotland.

He scored 14 tries for Wales in international competition, including five in the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

Rees-Zammit then played for the British & Irish Lions, becoming the youngest player selected since 1959.

Rees-Zammit has had a busy preseason

The Kansas City Chiefs used Rees-Zammit running the ball, receiving out of the backfield and on kickoff and punt returns. They even worked him out as a kicker.

In the three preseason games, Rees-Zammit gained 22 yards on six carries, caught one pass for 3 yards and had two kickoff returns for 63 yards. He played against the Jaguars in the Chiefs' 26-13 loss on Aug. 10, with two carries for 1 yard and his only pass reception.

It's helped his transition to the Jaguars that coach Doug Pederson worked for Andy Reid at Kansas City and has incorporated many of Reid's offensive and organizational principles with the Jaguars.

"There are a few things that translate," Rees-Zammit said. "In terms of concepts, both of them are definitely similar, which is easier for me to learn. There are things that both teams have got different."

He said playing for Pederson is also like Reid in another important way.

"Both are very detailed," he said. "But then they allow the players to have the confidence and belief to go out there and perform the plays they've been training all week."

Wide receiver seems to be the best fit for the 6-foot-2, 209-pounder.

“I think I’m much better off playing receiver with my size and strength," he said. "It was a good experiment to try running back out at the Chiefs, but I think we all realized that I would probably be a receiver eventually. And here we are today. I’m loving training at receiver and I’m loving learning the role and am going to continue to improve.”

Louis Rees-Zammit got exposed to NFL as a kid

Rees-Zammit became an NFL fan as a boy much like American kids: he got hooked when his father took him to his first game at Wembley Stadium in London.

That was a 2016 game between the Washington Commanders played the Cincinnati Bengals, in the same stadium where the Jaguars play their annual home game. Rees-Zammit went to NFL games in London frequently after that and began watching on TV.

"My dad took me and my brother to go watch ... I was quite young then," he said. "I’ve loved it ever since watching my first game on TV, never mind in real life. My dad brought me up to watch as many games as I could. That was his first love of sport, American football and he brought me up the same way. I’ve loved it ever since then and now I’m able to train it and play it.”

Louis Rees-Zammit turned down a big contract

Rees-Zammit gets paid the NFL practice-squad minimum of $225,000 for the season. He turned down a contract offering undisclosed terms to stay with Gloucester on Jan. 16 in what the British press labeled "a shock move" which "stunned the rugby world" and was "a bolt from the blue."

Based on impressions in the UK press, the move was every bit the surprise that would ensue if Lawrence decided to move to London to take up rugby.

"Few international players have quit rugby to play another sport in more abrupt fashion," according to one article in The Guardian.

"It's a bit of a shock," Wales coach Warren Gatland told the Guardian.

However, Rees-Zammit has no regrets.

"This is my dream," he said. "I’m very determined to make this dream a reality and try and break into this team."

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville Jaguars' Louis Rees-Zammit gave up rugby stardom to pursue his NFL dream