Eagles star helping Rees-Zammit’s NFL dream soar
BRADENTON, Florida — When Wales and British Lions rugby star Louis Rees-Zammit arrived in Florida to begin his bid to make it into the NFL, he was quickly given proof that his dream could be realized.
As soon as Rees-Zammit and the other class of 2024 at the NFL’s International Player Pathway (IPP) program had checked in at the IMG Academy, Jordan Mailata, the Australian former rugby league player who reached the Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2022 season, was in touch.
“The day we landed here, I had three or four texts from Jordan asking ‘when can I meet the guys?’,” says James Cook, the NFL’s head of the IPP.
“I told him, ‘you are always welcome’ and the next day he texted me back and said, ‘OK, my flights are booked, I will be there next week.’”
Offensive tackle Mailata is the most successful example of a player switching from rugby to the NFL, and was named as a Pro Bowl alternate for the past two seasons.
The Australian kept his word and spent four days with the players, taking part in all their activities — on the field and in the classroom.
“He was great with us, he taught us a lot, especially in the classroom, he went through his whole experience, and we understood that he was once sat here and then went on to do great things,” Rees-Zammit told AFP in an interview.
“He was massive when it came to advice, and because he came in early, we were able to use that advice and apply it on the field,” he added.
Englishman George Smith, who played second row for Coventry in English rugby’s second tier, and is looking to play as offensive tackle in the NFL, said the knowledge of Mailata’s success led him to respond positively to the offer from the IPP.
“He was a real big influence in the whole decision to come out here. I watched him online and thought — yes, people can do this. Then I met him here and now he is someone who can I call, text, if I need any help. He’s very passionate about it,” he said.
The players have 10 weeks at the camp to get themselves ready for a March 20 ‘Pro Day’ trial when NFL team staff will examine them and potentially offer them spots on their rosters.
Such a short timeframe makes for an intensive program with players living on the campus and dedicating themselves to 12-hour days of activities.
As well as on-field drills, practice and gym sessions there is the all-important digestion of the complex rules of the game and samples of the kind of ‘playbooks’ they may be given by teams.
Cook says the key to the IPP’s approach is to create NFL players without losing the special attributes that the athletes bring from other sports.
Rees-Zammit already has the ballhandling skills from playing as a winger at the highest level in rugby union, but has been learning how to run the routes that wide receivers use to get into open space for a catch.
But the staff are conscious that teams may have their own ideas of the best position for a player.
“We don’t want to limit him and say ‘you’re just going to do this’ ... I think him being able to do a lot of things helps his case massively ... when you have the elite level of speed, ball skills and awareness that he has, you want him to impact the game in every different way,” said Cook.
Rees-Zammit says he has relished that approach.
“I think the main transferable skill from rugby is ball in hand. So playing that running back role it will be easier for me to transfer. Routes are completely different. So I have been learning that, learning running back as well and being heavily invested in special teams as well, because obviously rugby is played on both sides of the ball.
“So being able to go downfield, put a shot on or punt return, like I would do as a winger, I think there are a lot of positions I can play, I am just excited to learn them all and see what happens,” he said.
The coaching staff from NFL clubs will descend on Florida later this month to see just how far Rees-Zammit and his classmates have progressed.
“I want a coach to look at me and be like, well, he can play multiple positions, he’s not just a receiver, not just a running back and can play a lot of special teams positions,” he said. “You can play a lot of roles within the offense because there are many players like that now.”