To those unfamiliar with the story of former Welsh rugby pro Louis Rees-Zammit, the English equivalent might be Jude Bellingham saying, ‘You know what? Screw football, I kind of fancy lacrosse.’
That’s how significant it is.
In Wales, rugby is life, and the Welsh wonderkid, just 23, had the potential to elevate the game to new heights. He had the talent, the pace, the looks, too – and with a little bit of luck, who knows where he could have taken Wales. But Rees-Zammit had other ideas, and in January of this year, he announced he was leaving rugby in order to try his hand at American football, since signing with the Kansas City Chiefs.
It was a brave move, and one that didn’t go down well with everyone, but Rees-Zammit says he had to do what was right for him:
‘You get the hate with it,’ he tells Men’s Health UK, ‘but I completely block that out – I have done for years. I know people are going to be disappointed that I’ve left rugby, but at the same time, I’ve got a new challenge and I need to work extremely hard to make my dream come true.’
This was no impulse decision. In fact, it’s something Rees-Zammit had been thinking about for years. ‘Growing up in Wales, rugby is absolutely massive, so that’s what I decided to pursue,’ he says. ‘But I always had it in the back of my head that I wanted to play in the NFL one day. My family and I had spoken about it for years and years.’
There’s no guarantee Rees-Zammit’s move to the NFL will be a success. It’s a gamble, and this isn’t lost on him: ‘I’m kind of leaving a sport that I’m getting to my best at, to play one that I’ve never played,’ he says. ‘But I don’t want to have any regrets in life, and I know it would be one of the biggest regrets I could ever have.’
Robert Hicks is the multiplatform director at Men’s Health UK. A Sport Science graduate and author of three fitness books published by Bloomsbury, Robert has written numerous articles on health, fitness and nutrition and created several documentaries, most notably Britain’s Steroid Epidemic and The Faces of Attempted Suicide. Robert has been working at Men’s Health UK for seven years.
