Lightning-fast attacker lines up at full-back against England insisting that his gridiron tilt will only help his rugby
The late, great Tom Petty wrote the song that, ultimately, defined Louis Rees-Zammit’s American football adventure. “Runnin’ down a dream, that never would come to me …” Twelve months ago Rees-Zammit was in New Orleans watching the Superbowl and still hoping to carve out a multimillion dollar NFL career. Now here he is, back in a Welsh rugby shirt and eager to make up for lost time.
Sliding doors and all that. This weekend in America all roads lead to this year’s Superbowl in California: the Seattle Seahawks v the New England Patriots . But as Wales’s 25-year-old prodigal son prepares for the contrasting vibes and smells of a sodden Twickenham in February, he insists he still has no regrets about the gridiron flirtation that removed him from Six Nations circulation for two years.
Written by Robert Kitson
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/feb/06/rugby-union-six-nations-louis-rees-zammit-nfl-gridiron-wales-england under the title “‘An experience you can’t buy’: Louis Rees-Zammit on his NFL adventure and fresh hope for Wales”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
