Louis Rees Zammit - NFL transition

doctor_grey wrote:

carpet baboon wrote:He's versatility has to be a bonus for them (RB, WR, special teams and even kicker/punter n a pinch) and as doc says the practice squad will give him another 12 months to learn the game and hopefully get a few calls ups to the starting squad.

Will be interesting to see what happens over the season

Good points - especially in that many position players earn their way onto NFL rosters through playing special teams.  And we know LRZ can tackle and is really quick.  So not just a kick or punt returner, but someone with a more rounded background.  As coaches say in almost every sport, a player needs to earn a place on the roster, then they are just an injury away......

The most extreme example of that I can recall is the baseball story of a player in the 1920s named Wally Pipp.   He was a good, possibly very good, first baseman for the NY Yankees.  He called out of a game with a headache and the manager called on a young rookie 21 year old first baseman named Lou Gehrig.  Unfortunately for Pipp, Gehrig turned out to be one of the greatest players in baseball history and went on to play 2130 consecutive games, a record which has been surpassed only once in the 100 years since.  The point is that one never knows what can happen.  And Pipp's headache is also known as one of the most famous headaches in American sport.  

Way off topic, I know, but thinking of people like Gehrig, and recently Dodie Weir, Stevie Thompson, and the like, I think it is good to know Lou Gehrig was amongst the first prominent pro athlete whose career and life were cut short by ALS which took him just two years after retiring from the Yankees.  Gehrig's nickname was the Iron Horse.  He was also the epitome of class throughout his fight with ALS and his retirement speech is one of the most famous in American sport history.  In America, ALS is still known as 'Lou Gehrig's Disease'.

Lou Gehrig Farewell

mountain man wrote:Have to say I'm far more interested to see how Christian Wade goes this season than Zammit seeing as Wade is now a rugby player whereras LRZ isn't. NFL doesn't interest me in slightest, never got into it.

mikey_dragon wrote:

mountain man wrote:Have to say I'm far more interested to see how Christian Wade goes this season than Zammit seeing as Wade is now a rugby player whereras LRZ isn't. NFL doesn't interest me in slightest, never got into it.

Why would someone (we can guess who) dislike and red bar this comment? :laughing: It's entirely natural to prefer taking an interest in a rugby union player, compared to anything related to that fake sport NFL.

Poorfour wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:

mountain man wrote:Have to say I'm far more interested to see how Christian Wade goes this season than Zammit seeing as Wade is now a rugby player whereras LRZ isn't. NFL doesn't interest me in slightest, never got into it.

Why would someone (we can guess who) dislike and red bar this comment? It's entirely natural to prefer taking an interest in a rugby union player, compared to anything related to that fake sport NFL.

How about because both his and your comments are unnecessary and detract from people's enjoyment of 606v2?

The thread is clearly enough named and it's not as if it's getting in the way of discussion about rugby, so why do you feel the need to knock people's interest in the story rather than just ignore it?

Poorfour wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:

mountain man wrote:Have to say I'm far more interested to see how Christian Wade goes this season than Zammit seeing as Wade is now a rugby player whereras LRZ isn't. NFL doesn't interest me in slightest, never got into it.

Why would someone (we can guess who) dislike and red bar this comment? It's entirely natural to prefer taking an interest in a rugby union player, compared to anything related to that fake sport NFL.

How about because both his and your comments are unnecessary and detract from people's enjoyment of 606v2?

The thread is clearly enough named and it's not as if it's getting in the way of discussion about rugby, so why do you feel the need to knock people's interest in the story rather than just ignore it?

doctor_grey wrote:Well, more or less as expected, Kansas City put LRZ on waivers in hopes to re-sign him to their practice squad.  However, it seems there is strong interest from the Jacksonville Jaguars to sign him to their International Player Development spot.  He would likely have a better chance to make the game day squad there than in KC.  Plus I expect the Jags would hype him in the team during their annual Wembley match.  

 https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/41031373/ex-rugby-star-louis-rees-zammit-set-join-jaguars-source

formerly known as Sam wrote:

doctor_grey wrote:Well, more or less as expected, Kansas City put LRZ on waivers in hopes to re-sign him to their practice squad.  However, it seems there is strong interest from the Jacksonville Jaguars to sign him to their International Player Development spot.  He would likely have a better chance to make the game day squad there than in KC.  Plus I expect the Jags would hype him in the team during their annual Wembley match.  

 https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/41031373/ex-rugby-star-louis-rees-zammit-set-join-jaguars-source

The Jags have also listed him as a wide receiver whereas as KC had him down as a running back. Perhaps that has had an effect as well.

doctor_grey wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:

doctor_grey wrote:Well, more or less as expected, Kansas City put LRZ on waivers in hopes to re-sign him to their practice squad.  However, it seems there is strong interest from the Jacksonville Jaguars to sign him to their International Player Development spot.  He would likely have a better chance to make the game day squad there than in KC.  Plus I expect the Jags would hype him in the team during their annual Wembley match.  

 https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/41031373/ex-rugby-star-louis-rees-zammit-set-join-jaguars-source

The Jags have also listed him as a wide receiver whereas as KC had him down as a running back. Perhaps that has had an effect as well.

You could be right with that.  Different teams have different needs and the Jaguars certainly have a lot more roster holes that Kansas City.  They also evaluate players through different lenses.  Just like Rugby, there is a trend now for some players to play hybrid roles in American Football.  Some really fast, shifty, wide receivers are now getting game time in the backfield.  To me, that is a role perfect for someone like LRZ.

I like the comment in the article that LRZ also tried out for a kicker role on top of the wide receiver/running back slots.      

formerly known as Sam wrote:

doctor_grey wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:

doctor_grey wrote:Well, more or less as expected, Kansas City put LRZ on waivers in hopes to re-sign him to their practice squad.  However, it seems there is strong interest from the Jacksonville Jaguars to sign him to their International Player Development spot.  He would likely have a better chance to make the game day squad there than in KC.  Plus I expect the Jags would hype him in the team during their annual Wembley match.  

 https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/41031373/ex-rugby-star-louis-rees-zammit-set-join-jaguars-source

The Jags have also listed him as a wide receiver whereas as KC had him down as a running back. Perhaps that has had an effect as well.

You could be right with that.  Different teams have different needs and the Jaguars certainly have a lot more roster holes that Kansas City.  They also evaluate players through different lenses.  Just like Rugby, there is a trend now for some players to play hybrid roles in American Football.  Some really fast, shifty, wide receivers are now getting game time in the backfield.  To me, that is a role perfect for someone like LRZ.

I like the comment in the article that LRZ also tried out for a kicker role on top of the wide receiver/running back slots.      

Unlike a lot of punters LRZ offers someone who can chase the kick and actually put in a solid tackle. Could help him get minutes.

doctor_grey wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:

doctor_grey wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:

doctor_grey wrote:Well, more or less as expected, Kansas City put LRZ on waivers in hopes to re-sign him to their practice squad.  However, it seems there is strong interest from the Jacksonville Jaguars to sign him to their International Player Development spot.  He would likely have a better chance to make the game day squad there than in KC.  Plus I expect the Jags would hype him in the team during their annual Wembley match.  

 https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/41031373/ex-rugby-star-louis-rees-zammit-set-join-jaguars-source

The Jags have also listed him as a wide receiver whereas as KC had him down as a running back. Perhaps that has had an effect as well.

You could be right with that.  Different teams have different needs and the Jaguars certainly have a lot more roster holes that Kansas City.  They also evaluate players through different lenses.  Just like Rugby, there is a trend now for some players to play hybrid roles in American Football.  Some really fast, shifty, wide receivers are now getting game time in the backfield.  To me, that is a role perfect for someone like LRZ.

I like the comment in the article that LRZ also tried out for a kicker role on top of the wide receiver/running back slots.      

Unlike a lot of punters LRZ offers someone who can chase the kick and actually put in a solid tackle. Could help him get minutes.

And he is a decent defender/tackler.  Huge advantage over traditional punters.  I would guess he probably doesn't have the length on his kicks compared to traditional punters since that is all they train to do.    

lostinwales wrote:I wonder if his move to the NFL would have got anything like as much attention if he wasn't Welsh

TAFKA The Oracle wrote:

lostinwales wrote:I wonder if his move to the NFL would have got anything like as much attention if he wasn't Welsh

More, I would imagine, given how small Welsh national media is (one main tabloid newspaper/website and a section on the bbc site).

formerly known as Sam wrote:

TAFKA The Oracle wrote:

lostinwales wrote:I wonder if his move to the NFL would have got anything like as much attention if he wasn't Welsh

More, I would imagine, given how small Welsh national media is (one main tabloid newspaper/website and a section on the bbc site).

His profile was big within the UK, he'd toured with the Lions and played at a world cup. The only comparison is Christian Wade who's profile was nowhere near as big and who wasn't just coming into the peak of his powers. LRZ was expected to be a big name in British rugby for the next decade as the likes of Owen Farrell, George North etc have been before him.  Always going to generate headlines, particularly during a fairly quiet summer period for British sports.

TAFKA The Oracle wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:

TAFKA The Oracle wrote:

lostinwales wrote:I wonder if his move to the NFL would have got anything like as much attention if he wasn't Welsh

More, I would imagine, given how small Welsh national media is (one main tabloid newspaper/website and a section on the bbc site).

His profile was big within the UK, he'd toured with the Lions and played at a world cup. The only comparison is Christian Wade who's profile was nowhere near as big and who wasn't just coming into the peak of his powers. LRZ was expected to be a big name in British rugby for the next decade as the likes of Owen Farrell, George North etc have been before him.  Always going to generate headlines, particularly during a fairly quiet summer period for British sports.

Agree with that. I just reckon that someone like, say, Owen Farrell going to NFL would possibly generate even more attention as it would drag in much more of the UK media which is obviously more England-leaning due to the population size.

Australia back Jordan Petaia seems set to become the latest rugby union player to try their luck in American Football's NFL.

The 24-year-old, who can play at outside centre, wing or full-back, is reportedly lined up to attend the NFL's International Player Pathway development camp in Florida in January.

Wales' Louis Rees-Zammit followed the same route when he switched from rugby union at the start of the year.

Rees-Zammit is now on the Jacksonville Jaguars' practice squad as a wide receiver after missing out on a place on the Kansas City Chiefs' roster.

"Jordy's on a pathway to some other opportunities at this stage, but we've got a good handle on things," Queensland Reds coach Les Kiss said of Petaia's future beyond the end of his contract in November.

"He's here and we've got communication with him."

Petaia, who has has not played since injuring his shoulder in April, started the Wallabies' first three matches at last year's Rugby World Cup and has 27 Test caps.