NFL superstar's new warning to rugby convert Louis Rees-Zammit
NFL superstar Travis Kelce has issued a warning to Louis Rees-Zammit as the rugby union convert attempts to transition to American football.
While Kelce is positive about the Welshman's potential, he refused to shy away from the challenges LRZ will face as he tries to make it in the NFL.
The official line is that Rees-Zammit (23) wants to secure a spot on the Kansas City Chiefs' 53-man roster as a receiver or running back, though this is considered by many to be something of a long shot.
The inside line from NFL experts is that special teams could offer LRZ a more realistic route to playing time in his debut year, although he will almost certainly feature in pre-season games later this year, barring injury.
Kelce (34) has been mentoring Rees-Zammit, drawing on his own extensive experience in the league and has advised Rees-Zammit to be patient,
"It's gonna be a humbling experience at first," Kelce told reporters recently. "It's not easy to just make that jump".
"They're two completely different games," said the tightend. "But he is an athlete, and that's what the Chiefs saw. He's a smart kid, a smart player, so he's going to be able to pick up the offence eventually, but it's going to be a tough few months for him here while he's getting acclimated to the NFL.
"We've been doing this since we were kids. We've been playing this game, so we just have those little instincts that we've built over the years that he has to start to catch up with. The biggest advice I gave him was just try not to let it overwhelm you as much as it can. Just know that everybody believes that you have the potential to be able to play. So just absorb as much as you can, learn as much as you can in the short time that you'll have before the season."
Despite the obvious hurdles facing the Welshman, Kelce is optimistic that Rees-Zammit's athleticism and work ethic will give him the best possible shot at cracking the new code.
If the former Gloucester winger does not make the final roster by the end of the pre-season in August, he has an agreement to remain with the Chiefs through their International Pathways Program, which should span three seasons.
#Chiefs RB Louis Rees-Zammit admits he's never played softball before then promptly hits a home run #ChiefsKingdom pic.twitter.com/1O00ZNnKNW
— Starcade Media (@StarcadeMediaKC) June 7, 2024
The former British & Irish Lions tourist was filmed this week participating in a charity softball match and of course, he hit a home run with his first swing, despite having never hit a ball with a bat before in his life other than cricket.
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They also use a far more consistent scale.
Rugby pass seem to have a different scale for each player based on the authors expectations or how much he likes them.
Can't fathom how Moodie and Reece both were a 3.
Go to commentsYes for sure, thanks for sharing. I fully understand that both parties are better off, no one needs to lose, neither competition suffers, in fact both can be better as a result.
Too many true rugby fans (and analysts) don't understand that.
I wouldn't imagine there is a date aye. It was a long decline rugby in SA and Australia was going through, and was so bad it even effected NZ, caused them to argue to can a couple of teams. The nation of SA probably grew into it? I know I watch more of the NH now specifically because of the SR teams playing there. I actually had to mention to Nick Bishop (because of his stubborn perspective) the other day that I've never been a fan of Super Rugby, I don't think they chose the right way to go about professionalism back in 1995. Unfortunately, NZR was stuck between a rock and a hard place, because it had SA's and Australians that ran their unions by States, so we had to separate into "two or three" teams as a result. Our game is in the kak now because of it, they want to kill off the lifeblood of our National Provincial Championship. But now we might see a way out of it, so it's all good.
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