NFL International Players Pathway: Can Louis Rees-Zammit set the benchmark?
The beginning of a new year marks an exciting occasion for Northern Hemisphere rugby. The Six Nations are just a month away, and the hotly anticipated squads are released. Not many could have foreseen the events that unfolded on the eve of Wales’ squad being announced.
Star Welsh winger Louis Rees-Zammit decided to quit rugby with immediate effect, and will be entering the NFL International Player Pathway programme in a dramatic career turn. Instilled into him from a young age by his father’s gridiron days, he is now pursuing his lifelong dream of playing in the National Football League.
It is not plain sailing from here, as the NFL is quite literally a different ball game. There is a great hope however, with the future of Rees-Zammit in particular, that this pathway will be a key part of the globalisation of the NFL.
What is the NFL International Player Pathway programme?
The International Player Pathway (IPP) programme was set up in 2017 by the NFL with the aim to provide ‘elite international athletes with the opportunity to compete at the NFL level, improve their skills and ultimately work to earn a spot on an NFL roster.’
Elite athletes are invited to partake in the NFL International Combine, where they can showcase their abilities that correlate with the necessary skills of elite American football. Those selected undergo a 10-week process at the IMG Academy in Florida before demonstrating their honed skills at a college football pro day, where NFL scouts can evaluate what skills they can offer to a franchise.
For the first time ever, each of the NFL’s 32 teams have been granted an extra practice squad spot, reserved specifically for an international player. They will have the opportunity to be elevated to the active roster three times throughout the season, if they haven’t already been signed to an active roster. Teams will also receive an extra off-season roster spot if they select an IPP player.
Another key note is that this is the first year in the history of the IPP where specialist players were invited, a group of five spanning from England and Ireland. They will have the chance to perform at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis in March, the first to do so since the programme’s inception.
How have previous classes fared?
When you look at the successes of the programme, there is one clear standout – Jordan Mailata. The starting left offensive tackle for the Philadelphia Eagles entered the IPP in 2018, turning down a professional rugby league contract in his native Australia to do so.
Mailata was scouted at the IMG Academy by Eagles offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland, impressing to the point where the Eagles drafted him with the 233rd pick. Mailata had found out halfway through the process that he was also draft eligible.
This made Mailata the second ever draft pick to have no American high school or college experience. He formed part of a phenomenal Eagles offensive line last year that narrowly lost in the Super Bowl.
A total of 37 players have been either allocated, drafted or signed as a free agent on to an NFL roster since the IPP’s inception in 2017. Out of those, five players have been signed to an active roster: Mailata, Efe Obada (UK – Washington Commanders), Jakob Johnson (Germany – Las Vegas Raiders), Sammis Reyes (Chile – Washington Commanders) and David Bada (Germany – Washington Commanders)
There are some notable British rugby union players who did make it on to practice squads. However, they were not fortunate enough to be added to the active rosters and were eventually cut.
Two of those were former England international Christian Wade, who was a running-back for the Buffalo Bills, and ex-Worcester Warrior Christian Scotland-Williamson, who featured as a tight end for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
In his first football game ever. On his first NFL touch.
Former England rugby superstar Christian Wade just scored a 65-yard TD!!!@ChristianWade3 #INDvsBUF pic.twitter.com/4You01TFXz
— NFL (@NFL) August 9, 2019
Both showed great promise but were not able to break through to that final elusive stage. In an interview with Decypher, Scotland-Williamson outlined just how tough the step up was:
“Nothing can replicate having to learn a playbook and the pressure in American football.”
Mailata reinforced this in an interview on Eagles One on One:
“Mentally, it [the playbook] was challenging. I didn’t know where to begin and when I looked at it, it was like a different language.”
It is a complex sport that has been ingrained in most elite players from a young age. To break the mould as an outsider starting late, it takes a real special talent, no matter how prolific they were in their original sport.
The 2024 IPP Class
Perhaps this is the class that possesses that very special athlete. Rees-Zammit is undoubtedly the most talented rugby player to enter the pathway. At just 22 years of age, the British and Irish Lion already has a remarkable 31 Welsh caps to his name.
Ex-South African rugby legend Naas Botha, who trialled with the Dallas Cowboys, told Sportsboom that this is an opportunity that he can really make the most of:
“He’s got the feet work, he’s got the skill, he’s got the running skills, he’s got lovely hands. He’s got all the attributes to succeed.
“But this is where we’re making a big mistake trying to compare rugby to American football.”
Trying to compare the two sports is a mistake that many still make. Both are tough physical sports, but the nuances of American football are far more difficult to comprehend. Just because Rees Lightning has the physical attributes that make him a magnificent winger does not mean he can simply slot to a wide receiver.
There is very good reason to believe he may be the one to go all the way, but it is a test that only time will tell. Of course, Rees-Zammit is not the only member of this class, of which there are some seriously skilled individuals.
There are fellow ex-rugby players such as Harry Mallinder, Darragh Leader and George Smith for example, who have hailed from professional rugby clubs across England and Ireland. The range expands through to rugby league, Gaelic football, basketball, gymnastics and even Australian rules football. It is a pathway full of promise.
