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Former rugby star Louis Rees-Zammit is expected to be absent when the Kansas City Chiefs name their 53-man roster for the 2024 NFL season on Tuesday.
The 23-year-old Welshman is likely to be assigned to the Chiefs’ training squad to continue his development after switching sports earlier this year.
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.
The former Gloucester player recorded four carries for 21 yards and had a 36-yard kick return, but also missed a tackle while chasing a punt return and couldn’t recover the ball the only time he was targeted by a pass.
Most experts agree that while Rees-Zammit has shown flashes of his talent, he has not yet been productive enough to warrant a roster spot as the Chiefs seek a third straight Super Bowl crown.
Asked about Rees-Zammit after Thursday’s game, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said: “Yeah, we tried to get him the ball a little bit tonight, and he got some real positive yards.
“It’ll be good for him to see and study what he does, live. He’s a hell of an athlete. It’s just a matter of getting familiar with the sport as he goes along. We’ll see how it all goes for him.”
Rees-Zammit, who scored 14 tries in 32 appearances for Wales, announced in January that he was quitting rugby to head to Florida to take part in the NFL’s International Player Pathway (IPP) programme before signing a three-year contract with the Chiefs in March.
But to succeed in the NFL, Rees-Zammit will have to succeed where others have failed.
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, Wade 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.
The Chiefs have until 9pm BST on Tuesday to make final cuts to their squad.
