Rees-zammit frustrated on NFL testing day
Ex-wales wing goes through his paces for gridiron scouts American football hopeful unhappy with sprint time
Louis Rees-zammit admitted he was disappointed with his sprint time after completing his workout in front of National Football League scouts in Florida, as the former Gloucester and Wales wing attempts to earn a roster spot on a gridiron team ahead of next season.
It was perhaps a surprising reaction from a player who was renowned as one of the fastest players in rugby union.
The 23-year-old has been part of the NFL’S International Player Pathway for the past 10 weeks since announcing his decision to quit rugby and try to make it in American football.
He was taking part in a “combine” session for scouts to assess the IPP players, and, in the 40-yard dash, the most high-profile of the disciplines, Rees-zammit recorded an unofficial time of 4.44sec on his second attempt.
He told reporters that his time was not as fast as he had hoped, having run as low as
4.2 and 4.3.
In a recent interview with Telegraph Sport, Rees-zammit namechecked Deebo Samuel and Christian Mccaffrey as dual-threat players playing as hybrid wide receivers and running backs who he hoped to emulate in the NFL. Both Samuel and Mccaffrey ran 4.48 at their respective pro days before they were drafted. Christian Wade, the former Buffalo Bills running back who returned to rugby and is now with Racing 92, recorded 4.53. Rees-zammit also ran “routes”, impressing with his footwork, and competed in jump drills. He looked disappointed with his performance in the broad jump – where athletes leap as far as they can from a standing start – recording 9ft 7in. Following the IPP combine, Rees-zammit will be eligible to be selected on an NFL practice squad – the reserve squad below each NFL roster – as an additional 17th player, given his international designation.
NFL rosters begin each summer with up to 90 players during pre-season, and finish with 53 players by the start of each season. Spending a year on the practice squad, from which players can be called up to the main roster, would help Reeszammit continue to develop his understanding of the sport following his 10-week crash course with the
IPP.
Players who have come through the pathway to make it in the NFL include Jordan Mailata, the Australia
offensive tackle who has become one of the best players in his position in the NFL since switching from rugby league.
Rees-zammit’s shock departure from rugby union was inspired by his father, John, playing American football in the 1980s. “It was quite tough back then. Unless you had money and you were able to fly out to America and go to college there. He wasn’t able to do that, so to kind
of continue his legacy, allow him to say his son is in the NFL, would be a dream come true for me,” Reeszammit has told Telegraph Sport.
Also working out at the IPP combine was Harry Mallinder, the former Northampton Saints back who is trying to make the NFL as a punter. Mallinder also worked out at the NFL combine in Indianapolis this month, impressing NFL scouts with his size at 6ft 5in and 17st.