An offseason ago, the Kansas City Chiefs made headlines when they took a chance on former Welsh rugby star Louis Rees-Zammit. It was a rare attempt at a rugby-to-NFL conversion for a dynamic athlete, although things certainly didn’t pan out.
A year and change later, and Rees-Zammit is out of the league. After Kansas City waived him last August and things didn’t work with the Jacksonville Jaguars, the 24-year-old is heading back to his roots. According to Joe Harston of The Times, he’s inked a one-year deal with the Bristol Bears and is returning to rugby.
On his way out of the NFL, Rees-Zammit had a harsh assessment of his time in the world’s leading football league.
Former Chiefs Weapon Louis Rees-Zammit Has Harsh Thoughts on NFL Stint
Rees-Zammit opened up about how difficult the move to the States was. Not having a prior background in football created a set of obstacles he simply couldn’t overcome.
“I just felt like I was kind of wasting my talent out there,” Rees-Zammit said, per The Times. “It’s very difficult to get into the NFL if you haven’t gone through the college system. You just don’t get the same opportunities as those boys. I was getting minimal reps, and it was just something that I was fed up with when I was practicing there.”
The process of joining up during the offseason and battling for roster positioning presented one heck of a challenge.
“It was absolutely brutal,” Rees-Zammit said. “I was seeing new players every day, players cut every day. It was pretty tough, and I knew that going out there.”
Rees-Zammit’s first NFL preseason stint produced mixed results. He recorded just 22 yards on the ground and 3 receiving yards. The bulk of his all-purpose yardage was from a pair of kickoff returns, of which he brought back for a combined 63 yards. That wasn’t enough for the running back-wide receiver hybrid to justify a spot on the 53-man roster.
As it turns out, the Jaguars’ practice squad wasn’t enough either. Now, Rees-Zammit stands a better chance of shedding a bit of weight and becoming a high-level rugby player again.
Updated Look at Kansas City’s Running Back Room for 2025-26 Season
Had Rees-Zammit wound up back with the Chiefs this summer, it likely would’ve resulted in the same outcome. The Kansas City running back room has a hierarchy of players who are more worthy of roster spots, and the wideout collective is even more tight-knit.
At the top of the halfback depth chart, Isiah Pacheco is looking to rebound from a rough 2024-25 season. He spent several weeks on the shelf with a broken fibula, only to return late in the campaign and look like a shell of himself. The team’s hope is he and veteran Kareem Hunt can be fresh and provide a formidable one-two punch in the backfield this year.
Behind those two, Elijah Mitchell was signed to a one-year deal during the offseason. In two preseason games thus far, he has 7 carries for 19 yards on the ground. Now multiple years removed from his breakout effort with the San Francisco 49ers, he faces an uphill battle to replicate that form. Rookie seventh-rounder Brashard Smith is a fun story who stood out during training camp but doesn’t quite seem ready for a real workload.
2024 undrafted free agent Carson Steele might just make the team again as a de facto fullback. He’s a capable special teams player and an option for short-yardage situations on offense. With that said, rumors are swirling that the Chiefs are on the hunt for help at running back. In the event of a trade, this roster math would undoubtedly change.
There isn’t much room for someone — even a Rees-Zammit kind of project — to come in without someone else exiting the fold.
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