Louis Rees-Zammit returns to London, playing a new position and embracing the challenges that (American) football has thrown his way.
Rees-Zammit found himself with the Prince of Wales, Prince William, comparing who had the better arm as they tossed the football around during a youth flag football game.
Rees-Zammit and Prince William were able to throw the football around during a game of youth flag football in LondonINSTAGRAM @NFLUK
In a talkSPORT exclusive with Brian T. Smith, Rees-Zammit says it’s not even close.
“I was pretty shocked, he was better than me,” Rees-Zammit said.
“I think he said he played water polo or something when he was younger, so he’s got a good arm on him.
“He was a lot better than me, which I was shocked about. He had a great spiral.
“He was managing to throw it like it was easy, so fair play to him.”
Prince William one, Rees-Zammit zero.
The Welsh-born NFL player finds himself back in London in the midst of a two week stretch with the Jacksonville Jaguars for their annual UK trip.
The Jags lost on Sunday to the Chicago Bears 35-16 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in a sloppy affair, and will now be looking to right the ship this Sunday against the New England Patriots at Wembley Stadium.
Rees-Zammit wasn’t on the active roster against the Bears and won’t be on it when they play the Patriots, but that hasn’t discouraged the newly-minted wide receiver.
Making the position change from running back to wide receiver has been a challenge, but one that Rees-Zammit has embraced.
Rees-Zammit started his NFL career as a running back with the Kansas City Chiefs and has since transited to wide receiver for the JaguarsINSTAGRAM @LRZAMMIT
“I wouldn’t have gone for this if I didn’t want to chase this dream,” Rees-Zammit said. “It’s one that I’m trying to learn a million things at once, but at the same time, I’m enjoying it.
“I go back now, I continue to learn the playbook, so when I go out on the field, there’s less thinking, more playing fast, because ultimately all these have, or most of these boys have had a full OTA, full training camp to learn all the plays and go through everything.
“Get the timings with the quarterbacks. There’s a lot of little details that need to happen. I kind of came in week one of the season and I’m trying to learn as much as I can in a short period of time, to get an opportunity.
“But I’m eager and excited to work hard day in and day out to make this dream happen.”
Rees-Zammit hasn’t been discouraged that he hasn’t suited up on game days. He knows what he signed up for.
“I knew this journey was going to be tough,” Rees-Zammit said.
“You get a lot of doubters within that and you try and not listen to them and just try and focus on what you can control.
Rees-Zammit retired from rugby in January and has since been on a mission to play in the NFLGetty
“And for me, that is just working as hard as I can every day, on and off the field to get an opportunity. It’s going to take a little bit of time.”
The Jaguars are off to a terrible 1-5 start, with head coach Doug Pederson coaching for his job, and franchise quarterback Trevor Lawrence struggling, they may need to find a spark somewhere.
And that spark could very well already be on the roster, in Rees-Zammit.
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