Louis Rees-Zammit has joined the Kansas City Chiefs – and his new teammate Travis Kelce has warned the former rugby union star that it will be a “humbling” experience
Travis Kelce knows what it takes to succeed with the Kansas City Chiefs (Image: Getty Images)
Travis Kelce has issued a reality check to former rugby sensation Louis Rees-Zammit ahead of his debut NFL season.
The former Wales winger, who rapidly rose to fame as one of the most promising young talents in rugby union, shocked fans when he announced his departure for an NFL opportunity in the US in January. He then signed for Kelce’s team, the Kansas City Chiefs.
Speaking on his podcast New Heights, Kelce warned that Rees-Zammit’s first NFL season would be a “humbling” experience. “It’s going to be a humbling experience at first,” he said. “It’s not easy to just make that jump, they’re two completely different games.
“He is an athlete and that’s what the Chiefs saw. He’s a smart kid, a smart player. So he’s gonna be able to pick up the offense eventually. “But it’s gonna be a tough few months for him here while he’s getting acclimated to the NFL.
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“We’ve been doing this since we were kids, so we’re gonna have those little instincts that we’ve built over the years that he’s got to catch up with.”
Before joining the Chiefs, Rees-Zammit notched up an impressive 38 tries in 69 appearances for Gloucester and earned his stripes with the Wales national team. He also toured South Africa with the British & Irish Lions in 2021.
His standout speed, clocking a rapid 4.49 seconds in the 40-yard dash at March’s international combine a time that would have placed him fifth among running backs at this year’s NFL draft has caught the eye of American football scouts.
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Rees-Zammit had a successful rugby career in Britain (Image:
Getty Images)
Kelce wants Rees-Zammit to become a star with the Chiefs and offered some words of wisdom to the Welsh winger. He added: “The biggest advice I gave him was just try not to let it overwhelm you as much as it can, and know that everybody believes that you have the potential to be able to play. So absorb as much as you can, learn as much as you can in the short time you have before the season.”
Without even playing a game, Rees-Zammit’s move has already proved lucrative. He’s seen his annual earnings leap from £225,000 at Gloucester to a whopping $900,000 after penning a three-year deal with the Chiefs.
Rees-Zammit took the lucrative chance and moved to Texas at the earliest to train with Chiefs’ star quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Andy Reid, the legendary coach of Kansas City, has already started visualising a role for his speedy British recruit.
“He was introduced to this when he was young when his dad played for six years in the European league,” Reid explained about Rees-Zammit, who also revealed his adoration for NFL legend DeSean Jackson as a kid. “He’s somewhat familiar with the sport and has had success in rugby. And there are some similarities there as a contact sport, and he’s had the ball and does those things and runs with the ball. We’ll start him off at the running back position and get him to feel comfortable with that.”
* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story.
