{"id":167155,"date":"2024-03-23T12:00:27","date_gmt":"2024-03-23T16:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=167155"},"modified":"2024-03-23T03:48:25","modified_gmt":"2024-03-23T07:48:25","slug":"rees-zammit-could-score-nfl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/03\/23\/rees-zammit-could-score-nfl\/","title":{"rendered":"Welsh Rugby Star Could Score Spot on NFL Team"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Welsh Rugby star Louis Rees-Zammit could score a spot on an NFL this offseason after participating in UCF\u2019s Pro Day workout this week. He now earns his bid to visit a pair of teams for a roster spot as he\u2019s one step closer to his NFL debut. Rees-Zammit shocked many fans when he announced this year that he was leaving Rugby to pursue his dreams of becoming an NFL athlete. He was one of the best wingers, but now he transitions to take center stage on a football field instead of pitch.<\/p>\n<p>NFL UK <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcsports.com\/nfl\/profootballtalk\/rumor-mill\/news\/welsh-rugby-player-louis-rees-zammit-to-visit-browns-jets-in-bid-for-nfl-career#:~:text=NFL%20UK%20announced%20that%20Rees,seconds%20during%20this%20week&#039;s%20workout.\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">announced<\/a> that Rees-Zammit, joining the league\u2019s International Player Pathway Program, will visit with the Browns and Jets. He\u2019s expected to meet with other teams after posting a 40 in 4.43 seconds during this week\u2019s Pro Day. Many NFL scouts approached him after he dripped in sweat and still caught his breath. He\u2019s among the 15 athletes from eight countries participating in the Pathway Program to earn a shot in the league.<\/p>\n<p>All eyes were on him as he lined up before clocking in his 40-yard dash. Many talking heads wanted to experience how fast \u201cRees-Lightning\u201d could run under the adversity of stopwatches. Rees-Zammit clocked in a 4.5 on his first attempt but improved to a 4.43 on his second run. He plans to try out the running back, wide receiver and returner position once he tries out with his first two teams.<\/p>\n<p>Since the program began, 37 international players have signed with teams and 18 currently have a spot on a roster.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.philadelphiaeagles.com\/team\/players-roster\/jordan-mailata\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Jordan Mailata<\/a>, Jakob Johnson, Efe Obada, Sammis Reyes and David Bada are all on active teams currently. Now, Rees-Zammit could be the next international athlete to score an NFL spot.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Louis Rees-Zammit, representing the IPP Program, begins his series of team visits following his Pro Day. <\/p>\n<p>First up are the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Browns?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@Browns<\/a> &amp; <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/nyjets?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@nyjets<\/a>, with more in the upcoming days as he aims to secure his first NFL contract \ud83c\udff4\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc62\udb40\udc77\udb40\udc6c\udb40\udc73\udb40\udc7f <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/EIYypphvcM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/EIYypphvcM<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NFL UK &amp; Ireland (@NFLUKIRE) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NFLUKIRE\/status\/1771208695147380978?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 22, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Welsh Rugby Star Louis Rees-Zammit Could Score Spot on NFL Team<\/h2>\n<h3>Could Rees-Lightning Become NFL Bound?<\/h3>\n<p>The famous rugby star is eligible for this year\u2019s draft after recently joining the NFL\u2019s International Player Pathway Program. The program was <a href=\"https:\/\/operations.nfl.com\/journey-to-the-nfl\/the-nfl-s-international-impact\/international-players-road-to-the-nfl\/#:~:text=The%20International%20Player%20Pathway%20Program%20helps%20foreign%2Dborn%20football%20players,spot%20on%20an%20NFL%20roster.\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">established in 2017<\/a> to give elite athletes across the world the opportunity to earn a spot on an NFL roster. NFL continues to increase the number of international athletes in the league after allowing teams to have a 17th roster spot on the practice squad.<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/reeszammit-matos-rugby-nfl-wales-ff7772008891dcb35b23476b9064d15a\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> According to the Associated Press<\/a>, Rees-Zammit explains why he plans to pursue a career in the league.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s always been on my mind. My dad has been a massive role model to me because he brought me up loving the sport. He played the sport when he was younger, so it\u2019s quite easy to love the game because I\u2019ve been watching it since I was young,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, it\u2019s always been in the back of my head, but it\u2019s just amazing to finally do it now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcsports.com\/nfl\/profootballtalk\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">According to Pro Football Talk<\/a>, the NFL added the 17th roster spot so it brings more appeal to adding someone like Rees-Zammit. He may not become a star player quickly in the new scenery, but he\u2019s worth the flyer for the Jets and Browns. Rees-Zammit will likely be taken as a UDFA or in late rounds.<\/p>\n<h3>Expectations for Him<\/h3>\n<p>As the 23-year-old is eyeing a new career challenge, he has the speed that every team might want. The lightning-caliber-like could add that rarity boost to a team\u2019s offense. So how does he fare against NFL stars like Christian McCaffrey, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2023\/11\/05\/tyreek-hill-stats-2023\/\" target=\"_self\">Tyreek Hill<\/a>, Derrick Henry and Deebo Samuel? His second attempt on the 40-yard dash was faster than Samuel and McCaffrey combined. So it seems like Rees-Zammit\u2019s future looks bright wherever he lands.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here is how Welsh Rugby star player could score a roster spot on an NFL team after an impressive UCF Pro Day showing. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4795,"featured_media":167158,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36,8,6],"tags":[922,4793,4361,8721,297],"class_list":["post-167155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-news","category-browns","category-jets","tag-christian-mccaffrey","tag-deebo-samuel","tag-efe-obada","tag-jordan-mailata","tag-tyreek-hill"],"modified_by":"Anthony Palacios","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4795"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167155\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/167158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}