Warren Gatland was stunned by a lunchtime call from Louis Rees-Zammit revealing his shock move into football, but recovered to back the “phenom” to excel in his mission in America.
It was not just the wider rugby community that was shocked by the Gloucester and Wales flanker’s abrupt career change.
The club and the country had no idea until midday on Tuesday, when the plan was explained to them.
It had all happened very quickly, perhaps appropriately, given that the young prodigy is best known for his breakneck pace.
Rees-Zammit faces immediate but exciting upheaval. He is scheduled to fly to Florida on Thursday, ready to begin a 10-week evaluation camp next week as part of the International Player Pathway program, which costs the NFL between $2 million and $3 million a year.
Louis Rees-Zammit (pictured) left rugby to pursue his dream of becoming an NFL player
Rees-Zammit has the full support of his Strictly Come Dancing girlfriend Saffron Barker (right) following his shock decision.
Rees-Zammit confirmed he had made his decision after “careful consideration”
You will not be paid while attending camp unless and until you are enrolled in a franchise. The camp will be held in Brandenton, Florida, and he is one of 16 contenders who will be announced Thursday.
There are riches on offer if you make it, but that’s a big if. Rees-Zammit could earn £240,000 if picked for a practice squad in his first season and that salary could rise to £633,000 if he is promoted to a full squad in year two. The program’s most successful rugby product is Jordan Mailata, who came from the league in Australia and now earns £8 million a year.
It is understood that Rees-Zammit recently signed to American rapper Jay-Z’s management company, Roc Nation, which also represents Siya Kolisi, Maro Itoje and Marcus Smith. His connections to American sports were surely a factor that facilitated this opportunity.
Gatland lost a leading figure in his Wales team just before the upcoming Six Nations, but expressed his support, saying: “He’s got the chance to go and do something he’s dreamed of for a long time and I want to wish him all the best.” . We all know what an athlete he is and how fast he is. And he’s definitely not small; Even with that speed he weighs 100 kg.
“He’s a bit strange as an athlete. When he came to us he wasn’t in his best physical shape, but I haven’t seen anyone get fit as quickly as him at the World Cup. He’s a freak physically.
“I don’t watch much of the NFL, but he’s obviously been a big fan when he was young and has a very high profile outside of the game in terms of social media, so this helps him improve that. I’m not saying that’s a negative at all.” .
Asked if he thinks Rees-Zammit will return to rugby one day, Gatland added: “I have no idea. There aren’t many people who have made it in the NFL who haven’t played at a young age, so it will be a challenge for him. , but good luck to him.”
Rees-Zammit will look to go one step further than Racing 92 and former Wasps and England wing Christian Wade, who claimed a place in the Buffalo Bills training squad but saw his ambitions ruined by an untimely injury.
Wales coach Warren Gatland admitted Rees-Zammit’s decision to quit the sport took him by surprise just weeks before the Six Nations.
Rees-Zammit represented Wales at last year’s World Cup in France, where Gatland’s men were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Argentina.
Rees-Zammit has become one of Welsh rugby’s biggest stars in recent years and has also shone for Gloucester, but has now chosen to leave the sport.
Meanwhile, Gatland is determined to be philosophical about being deprived of Wales’ most prolific goalscorer in recent times. “It’s a little more shock than disappointment,” he said. “We are disappointed to lose a talent like him, but we have to accept it, move on and focus on the rest of the team.”
As if Tuesday’s dramatic events were not enough, Gatland had already discovered that another talented winger would not be available to him – Exeter sensation Immanuel Feyi-Waboso. Despite being from Cardiff, he is also eligible for England and is expected to be in Steve Borthwick’s Six Nations squad.
“He’s definitely talented, but he’s very green,” Gatland said. “Some Welsh coaches heard that he had decided that. Some of his comments were not so positive about him. “If he doesn’t want to play for Wales, you can understand how the Welsh are about that, so they weren’t too disappointed.”
“I just hope that if they draft him, they keep him.” We saw it in last year’s Six Nations; They picked Ollie Hassell-Collins, he played one game and they threw him out like water from a bath.