Louis Rees-Zammit on NFL: 'I feel a lot more sore after a rugby game'

Louis Rees-Zammit has opened up in more detail than ever before on his time in the NFL and why he’s so happy to be back playing rugby union.

Speaking at length on the Under the Surface podcast, the Wales wing went into detail about the positional call that worked against him, and why his return to rugby has left him feeling freer, happier but also a bit more physically battered.

“They’re both very physical. You obviously have pads in one sport and non-pads in the other, but that kind of allows you to probably hit harder because you’re kind of all protected.”

That protection, he explained, changes the nature of contact. For all the size and speed involved in the NFL, it is rugby that remains the more painful of the two codes.

“But I feel a lot more sore after a rugby game.”

Rees-Zammit was quick to caveat his comparison, acknowledging the limited nature of his exposure to American football at elite level.

“Although I only played, I kind of only played three preseason games.”

“There might be better people to ask about this question, but I feel so sore after rugby.”

“We don’t wear pads or anything, so I can’t really compare because I haven’t played enough to be able to tell you.”

“But yeah, they’re both very physical sports.”

One of the most fascinating admissions concerned his initial deployment as a running back, a decision that Rees-Zammit now views as fundamental to how difficult the transition became.

“I joined the first year with the Chiefs and played running back, and I probably should not have played running back. I should have probably played receiver from the start, which they even told me at the end.”

That positional experiment compounded an already brutal learning curve. Unlike rugby, where Rees-Zammit had years of instinctive understanding to fall back on, the NFL demanded immediate mastery of complex systems, terminology and responsibilities, and an enormous playbook.

“I joined the Chiefs and in a year I played for two different teams. I played under three different coaches. I had to learn three different playbooks.”

“I literally had to learn over 1,500 plays in a year.”

“My start was pretty tough. I joined the reigning Super Bowl champions and then had three different playbooks to learn, which I had never had to learn before in my life.”

“It was completely different because I did not have the confidence of knowing if I was any good at the sport.”

“With rugby, I always backed myself because I played it from such a young age. I had played hundreds of games.”

“Then you go into a sport where you have never played it before and you are trying to compete with the best players in the world.”

“I joined a team that was the best team in the world, so it could not have been a harder start for me.”

Time was another enemy. While domestic prospects in the US benefit from years in college programmes, Rees-Zammit was effectively trying to compress that development into a handful of months.

“You are trying to pick it up in five months to make a team, and then you do not make the team, and it is like right, you have to go through the whole process again.”

“That was probably the hardest part for me.

“When you are an international player and you have never played before, they are not going to trust you as much as players coming through college and have played the sport from such a young age.”

The toughest part of the young Welshman’s NFL journey?

“I’d probably say not making the team,” said LRZ. “Because I had such high expectations for myself, like to then go over there and not make the team.”

That reality eventually forced a reckoning. The NFL dream had been explored, a lingering question answered. What followed was not bitterness, but clarity about his return to rugby union.

“I just missed playing. I would train all week and then not play on the weekend.”

“I did that for 18 months, and previously I was playing every week, so I just missed playing, to be honest.”

“In rugby it is a free-flowing game. You get yourself into the game and you can have an impact on the team.”

“In American football, unless the quarterback throws you the ball, you are not really involved.”

“That is what I missed. I was ready to go back.”

LRZ has no regrets about his time in America and his return to rugby. Having tested himself in another code, Rees-Zammit feels unburdened by the what-ifs that might otherwise have lingered.

“Since I have done it, even though it did not work out, it was a weight off my shoulders.”

“Now I can just fully go into rugby and give it my all.”

“I do not need to think about anything else.”

“These times now are really enjoyable for me because it feels like me playing as a kid.”

“Just going out there every day in training and in the games and loving it.”

“The last few months since I have been back have probably been some of my favourite times of my life.”

Crucially, the NFL chapter has not been a wasted detour. Rees-Zammit believes it has reshaped his game, particularly in areas that were once considered limitations.

“A lot of it is probably the physical side of it.”

“Previously in rugby I was very quick, but I probably did not have that physicality side of my game.”

“I was a young boy as well, so that did not help.”

“Now I have matured, I feel bigger and more confident.”

“Before, it was about running around someone. Now I can use my footwork that I learned in the NFL.”

“I can use my physicality as well.”

“I have still got my speed, but it has added a few more strings to my bow.”

“The more strings I can add to my bow, the better player I am going to be.”

Interview courtesy of the Under the Surface podcast. Watch the full episode HERE. The series is produced in partnership between Original Penguin and the mental health charity CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably), reflecting their shared commitment to tackling mental-health stigma and encouraging people to speak up.