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The Gloucester verdict on the NFL progress of Louis Rees-Zammit
By Liam Heagney
Gloucester boss George Skivington has shared his thoughts on the recent progress of Louis Rees-Zammit in American football. The ex-Wales winger quit rugby in January to take on a 10-week international player pathway crash course that could ultimately lead to a pro team contract for the upcoming 2024/25 season in the United States.
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Scouts from all 32 NFL franchises watched the 23-year-old in action at last week’s pro day combine at the University of South Florida and after RugbyPass reported that three clubs were interested in offering in the region of $900k per year for him to sign for their summer training squad, Rees-Zammit has since visited facilities before deciding on his future.
While he has been away from the UK, Wales finished the Guinness Six Nations with the wooden spoon after losing all five matches but things have looked up at Gloucester where they backed up their recent Premiership Rugby Cup final win over Leicester at Kingsholm – their first silverware since 2015 – by visiting Tigers last Friday and repeating the dose with a victory in the Gallagher Premiership.
Gloucester have signed Christian Wade, who had an NFL stint at Buffalo Bills, as Rees-Zammit’s replacement for next season. In the meantime, Skivington has stayed in communication with the Welsh youngster and is hoping he will be soon unveiled as an NFL signing.
“I don’t follow anything in terms of social media but I have messages with him and I know he is in a good spot and he feels good and obviously he is visiting different teams,” said Skivington on Tuesday afternoon when asked by RugbyPass for his verdict on how Rees-Zammit has fared so far in America.
“He seems pretty confident he is going to get a contract of some sort, which I hope he does. I am looking forward to watching it from the sidelines if he does get on the field. Yeah, it’s very much direct contact how I’m keeping track of it. As I say, I’m hoping he goes on and we can all watch him doing some good stuff.”
Is Skivington a gridiron fan in his spare time away from running a Premiership rugby team? “I wouldn’t say I am a fan. I enjoy watching the odd game, I enjoy all the documentaries around it. I think there is so much money in it, it’s such a ruthless existence and they work extremely hard.
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“I always enjoy any documentary that gives you an insight into coaching and the Americans do those documentaries really, really well. You have probably got to take a little bit of spice out of some of it to get to the bones of it but they are good entertainment.
“I have got a handle on it but I have got some guys who work around me, particularly my head analyst Tom Reynolds who could tell you every player in every team who has ever played so he keeps me up to date with any details.”
