Former Chiefs preseason sensation officially gives up on NFL dream

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Louis Rees-Zammit's inclination before the start of training camp was that he had a short window to try to make it in the National Football Leagueâ€"or even the sport of American football. After the start of another preseason, Rees-Zammit has decided to end the cross-sport experiment and return to the game that made him a star in the first place.

Rees-Zammit, a former Welsh rugby star, is going back to the pitch after a failed attempt to make things work with the Jacksonville Jaguars in training camp. The decision to walk away from any further tries at the NFL level comes after Rees-Zammit also gave it everything he could with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2024.

Still only 24 years old, Rees-Zammmit announced his decision to "leave the NFL and return to rugby" on social media.

While there was no statement attached detailing any aspects of the decision-making process, Rees-Zammit did say there was "more to come soon," so it's likely that a forthcoming interview or press event/statement will reveal more.

It was easy to understand why a team like the Chiefs were keen to give Rees-Zammit a shot in the first place, as he was one of the most exciting young stars in international rugby. Rees-Zammit made his professional debut in England’s top league at just 18 years old with breakaway speed that would translate to any sport.

Rees-Zammit was a key player for Wales in several major tournaments, and he was selected for the prestigious British & Irish Lions tour in 2021â€"an honor reserved for the best players from the U.K. and Ireland. His profile would have continued to climb, but Rees-Zammit had a vision for an even larger stage if he could transition to the National Football League.

Originally listed as a running back for the Chiefs, Rees-Zammit profiled as a special teams factor for the Chiefs given the changes in return rules before his debut. At the time, Rees-Zammit was 23 years old with a 4.43-second time in the 40-yard dash who had been clocked running as fast as 24.2 miles per hour during a rugby match.

Things didn't work out as hoped for Rees-Zammit in Kansas City, despite his preseason popularity with fans, and the Jacksonville Jaguars were the next team to offer him a home. The Jags offered him a positional switch to wide receiver and a practice squad slot, which is where he would stay for the duration of 2024.

This offseason, the Jags once again gave Rees-Zammit a place to call home with a futures deal, and the Welsh native admitted in June that he knew his chances were fleeting. In an interview with TalkSport, Rees-Zammit laid out his understood timeline:

"International players get probably two to three years to make it in the NFL, so I wanted to do it at a time where I maybe could come back to rugby. I'm 24 now, probably got one to two more years to try and make it, depending on how this year goes."

After just a over a week of Jacksonville's training camp, Rees-Zammit has called it a careerâ€"at least on this side of the pond. It's a bit earlier than expected, but it's clear that he was already feeling the pinch in his second summer in the U.S.

While things didn't work out for Rees-Zammit, he's going to have no trouble turning heads back in the sport that first made him a star. He'll also bring with him the training and experience of having tried to make it in another sport, giving him added dimension to his game as he returns to rugby.

For NFL fans, the Louis Rees-Zammit experiment was short-lived but fun all the same. Chiefs fans loved to see him in training camp practices and preseason games, and some might even become rugby fans for having served as a sort of ambassador for the sport in the NFL.