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Louis Rees-Zammit failed to secure a spot on the Kansas City Chiefs’ 53-man roster ahead of the 2024 season.
The Welshman, who left rugby union earlier this year, was officially released by the back-to-back Superbowl champions ahead of Tuesday night’s deadline.
The 23-year-old’s NFL hopes haven’t been completely dashed.
He could be signed by one of 31 other teams or, if unclaimed, be assigned a spot on the Chiefs’ practice squad.
Each team is allowed to have up to 17 players from the training squad, who can be promoted to the main squad or signed by another club during the season.
A place in the squad is awarded via the International Player Pathway (IPP) programme which Rees-Zammit completed after leaving Gloucester in January and before signing a three-year contract with the Chiefs in March.
Rees-Zammit made his third appearance of the preseason – the only organized American football games he has played in his career – in Thursday’s 34-21 loss to the Chicago Bears, playing in a variety of roles.
In preseason games, with a 90-man roster reduced to 53 before the season, he recorded four carries for 21 yards, had a 36-yard kick return, but also missed a tackle while chasing a punt return and was unable to recover the ball the only time he was targeted by a pass. He was also used as a kicker on restarts.
Asked about Rees-Zammit after the Bears game, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said: “He’s a hell of an athlete. It’s just a matter of getting to know him as he gets here. We’ll see how it goes for him.”
Former England and Wasps winger Christian Wade took the IPP route in 2019 and joined the Buffalo Bills, but despite scoring a memorable 65-yard touchdown in pre-season, he never made a regular season appearance in the NFL before returning to rugby in 2022.
Christian Scotland-Williamson left Worcester in 2017 and spent three years trying to break through with the Pittsburgh Steelers, but also failed to make an appearance and signed for Harlequins in 2021.
Former discus thrower Lawrence Okoye, who competed in the 2012 London Olympics, entered the 2013 NFL draft but went undrafted, spending time with six different teams between 2015 and 2017 before returning to track and field without ever making the NFL pitch.
