Racing 92 wing Christian Wade, believes that Louis Rees-Zammit will have to go to a “dark place for months and years” to achieve his NFL dream. Wade swapped rugby for American football back in 2018, in what ended a seven year run with Wasps.
Wade was signed by the Buffalo Bills after completing the NFL’s International Player Pathway, yet struggled to break-through into the playing side. Wade made pre-season appearances for the Bills, and his NFL debut against the Indianapolis Colts, but an unfortunate shoulder injury caused him to be dropped to the injury reserve squad for his latter time out in the United States.
As demonstrated by the the former British & Irish Lion, the transition from rugby union to the NFL is no simple feat, with Wade cautious of Rees-Zammit’s upcoming challenges in the IPP and the subsequent seasons of unpredictable intensity. Speaking to Instant Casino, Wade said;
“You do have to go to a dark place. It is not about going to a dark place once, it is for months and years.
“The pathway programme will be tough, but that is the easy part. Once you get picked up by a team, or if you get picked up, then that is when the hard work starts and gets harder and harder. There will be a mini-camp where everyone is fighting for a job and their livelihood. It is not like you have a two year contract and you can chill for a bit and you’re getting paid.
“He will get paid weekly or every two weeks. But nothing is guaranteed. You can get cut at any time. Once you get through you have five weeks off then you go into pre-season. And that is pre-season from hell. You start at 7 am and finish at 9 pm. It is crazy.”
The former England international then highlighted how the brutal expectations in the NFL leaves no margin for error during pre-season. Wade presented how he would see his teammates cut from the squad when they least expected it, with multi-year contracts not existing for the players that are trying to make a break-through.
“You can literally be cut on any day. That is the most daunting thing. The NFL is the American dream. If you make it, it is great, if you don’t it’s a brutal experience seeing guys being cut and you know it could happen to you at any moment.
“I got a two year deal with the Bills, then another but at the end of my third year I injured my shoulder. I went onto injury reserve (and was) then released.”
“Even with Louis, money cannot be a factor. He won’t be properly paid until he makes a team. You will get a basic salary for the early weeks, but it is no more than pocket money. The big money comes when you get signed.
“Even then you only get paid for 32 weeks of the year; the other 20 weeks you have to live off what you have earned. It is a tough business. It is good money if you can get into a team and make a roster and stay on it. But the money is not guaranteed. You can sign a deal worth a few million dollars but then get cut after two months. And you don’t make anything.
“Even when you get to a team, you get to pre-season that is when the competition starts. You have got a hundred guys competing for 53 places. During that camp it gets smaller and smaller by the week. By the end of the pre-season you will have maybe 70 guys then on the final cut day at the end of camp, guys will be called in and asked to bring their playbooks which means that is the end of the road for them.”
Wade has been through the NFL’s system for identifying talent, and re-called how the trials ‘pro day’ is the toughest part of the selection process. After completing his 10-week programme to learn the fundamentals of American Football, Rees-Zammit will have to showcase his skills to a group of selectors, and take on whole host of budding NFL hopefuls who have been playing the sport from an early age.
“Louis is saying that he wants to get into the NFL so is doing the ten week programme, learning as much as he can ahead of a pro day when he goes through all the drills and hopefully showing his best in the hope of being picked up.
“The better your scores, the more eyebrows will raise and the more your chance of being picked up. You are not only competing against yourself but also everyone else.
“On that day if he is asked to do a drill he can’t go and ask somebody to remind him what that involves. He will need to know any formation so a team will think he has what it takes.”
Wade re-called when he was in Rees-Zammit’s boat, with the goal of impressing the selectors and securing a spot on an NFL team roster. The former Wasps wing talked about how a player can quickly struggle in the new environments, not just with the physical demands, but also the mental tole the training session take on the other side of the Atlantic.
Thankfully for Wade, he was able to find support in his American wife, who worked in New York. The Racing 92 man discussed how he and his partner would practice the Buffalo Bills’ calls, as Wade had to learn the complicated play book once signed to the team. Wade believes that Rees-Zammit has what it takes, yet would gladly offer his advice should the Welsh superstar need re-assurance.
“I would love to reach out to him to chat to him and see where his mind is at. It is very difficult. And to be honest the whole experience can be very lonely. The IMG Camp was cool because we were all in the same boat with people from all over the world trying to make it.
“Once I got the phone call from the Bills was one of the best days of my life, but once I was in there reality strikes. I was in my hotel room, training every day, not knowing anybody. I couldn’t really call anybody because of the different time zones. I had all the playbook stuff I had to learn.
“You can quickly become very lonely. I want to reach out to him to let him know that if he needs anything or wants to know what it is really like he can hit me up. It is a lonely place. I was lucky my wife is American. She wasn’t with me the whole time because she was working in New York. But when she could come she would help me learn the plays.
“She would be my little quarterback and she would say, ‘ Ok babe do this.’ And I would be lining up like it was a real play in the hotel room!”
Wade believes that the NFL is truly ‘survival of the fittest’, due to the ruthless nature of the squads constantly being cut down. The 32-year-old spoke about how mental strength was as important as physical ability in the early goings, as you have to be at your very best 100% of the time, or face losing your spot in the entire roster, never mind being dropped to the bench.
“One of the biggest lessons I learned is don’t try to figure things out or rationalise things. That will only mess your mind up. You need your mind to make sure you know the plays! And being ready to make the big plays when you come on.
“It is a big journey, a big sacrifice and a big challenge. Anyone from rugby who tries to make it I keep an eye out to see how they do. We all have to help each other, especially coming from this side of the pond because sometimes it can be very hard to get help when you’re over there.
“Everybody is fighting for their own survival. America is a very big place and very lonely. It definitely is going to be lonely, But once you get an opportunity to play and once you prove yourself a few people might start talking to you. You might make one or two friends, then you have to keep backing it up. It is a slow burner. You have to prove yourself every single day.
“It definitely is survival of the fittest. I wish Louis all the very best of luck and for sure if he wants help he just has to call me. I can give him a few tips when he needs help.”
Rees-Zammit is certainly a contender from an athletic perspective, the former Gloucester wing boasts a 100m sprint time of 10.44s, which comfortably puts him amongst the leading speedsters in the NFL. At 6ft 3″ tall, Rees-Zammit is a competitive height for the elite level of American football, and could battle for the arial ball should he pursue is career as a wide-receiver.
The flying Welshman has the strength to back up his speed, and could well become a revered opponent for the NFL’s cornerback defenders. Wade was a running-back in his time ‘stateside’, and backs ‘Rees-Lightning’ to bring his skills to the American audience.
“It will be very hard and demanding but at the same time it will be fun because it is something new. Getting your body into football shape.”
“With the way the NFL is going now with players like Tyreek Hill, wide-receivers are smaller than they were, and they are a lot faster. Louis is fast so that will work in his favour. He will also have to work on his footwork off the line.
“I will be very interested to see how he does. Several players have tried it from rugby but apart from myself he is the highest profile player to make the switch. He is going to start doing it at the age of 22, I was 27.
“If I could have done it younger the I would have. This is not something you can make a decision overnight. You really have to have thought about it. It is always good to have someone to speak to about the process.”
Thinking about what Rees-Zammit has left behind in his rugby career, Wade hopes that the former Wales international succeeds in his goals due to the immense sacrifice. Rees-Zammit had all but nailed his name down to the starting wing spot in Warren Gatland’s Wales team, and was a sure-fire candidate to gain test match caps for the British & Irish Lions in 2025.
Wade calls Rees-Zammit’s decision to step down from international rugby a “serious blow” for Wales and the Lions, yet does not see the NFL as a threat to the modern rugby landscape.
“I know the NFL are looking to push the pathway programme and rugby can provide players. But I don’t see it as a threat. The NFL has long looked at rugby players but as we have seen very few make it at all. It is not a sport that you can say, ‘That looks cool, I think I’ll give that a go!’
“There is so much more to it. It is so demanding. It is not a sport you can dip into. Everyone thinks it would be great because they hear about the money that those who succeed make. But not everyone is making big money.
“It is a serious blow (for Wales). At the back end of my career at Wasps I remember his starting out and doing outrageous things, like scoring 100 m tries and things like that.
“As a regular for Wales to lose one of your stars would be tough. He is also sacrificing the Lions if he makes it in the NFL. That’s a lot to consider.”
“I wish him well. With something like this it is such a big move to make you have to give anyone who goes on the journey the utmost respect. Just to think about it is hard, and to go there, let alone leave rugby behind, something he has played all his life and giving up his international place with Wales and possible selection for the Lions.
“I wasn’t really giving up those things. I wasn’t giving up what Louis is giving up. I had one cap for England, been a replacement on the 2013 Lions and gone on various tours. But I wasn’t giving up everything Louis is. His situation is very different. You have to respect his decision for his career. It is a very big one.”
“Some people will think that is a big blow for Wales and the game in general. The one thing I learned you have got to make your decision on what he wants to do with his career. At his age he has time on his side but there are always a lot of risks.
“This is not golf he will be playing. Like rugby he will be exposed to the threat of injury every day. He has obviously thought this through. I wish him well with this journey because it will be a fantastic one which will teach him a lot about himself. It will give him experiences that will help him, not only in the sport but also in his own personal life.”
Wade began to close off this look into the NFL, by highlighting that even if Rees-Zammit got selected by a team, there is no guarantee that we will see the Welshman don the famous pads and helmet week in, week out. Wade explained how that the competition for places is fierce for every match, and that Rees-Zammit will be competing for places with people who have been training their entire lives for that moment.
“Everybody’s competing for jobs. You have people from all sorts of backgrounds for whom this is their life, their dream and they are not going to roll over for anybody. No-one is going to put a hand out to help you. It will be all on Louis to know his stuff, be ready to go to war every day in training. It is not a threat to rugby as such, but it is intriguing.
“But when someone like Louis does it when he is an established international, a Lion and so high profile then other players will start to wonder, ‘Is that something I could do?’ It is a warning sign. But they will have to think it through carefully. They need to appreciate what it is going to mean, the sacrifices that will have to be made in pursuit of your dream.”
“It can be so fulfilling. If you make it onto the 53-man roster then you’re going to be competing every day to make it into the 46-man squad for match day and who will ‘suit up’ as they say. Even if you make it to the 46-man game day squad there is the question of how many reps you are going to get.
“I had friends who were drafted who played and they rarely go into the game. It is not because they are not good, it is just that in some games their number is not called much.”
Finally, Wade expects Rees-Zammit to undergo the same questions that he was, when he first announced his intentions to swap sports. An important motivator out in the US is understanding what a players’ ‘why’ is, in terms of ‘why’ are they pursuing a career in the NFL. Wade believes that Rees-Zammit has his answer, and will be ready to show this to the world when he gets suited up on the famous grid-iron.
“The most important thing is to find out what your ‘Why’ is. That is something they asked us in the beginning. Why are you wanting to do this? Who are you doing it for? What is your motivation? Once you have figured that out, that is the thing that will carry you through.
“Because it is going to get really tough, really hard, but if you have a reason ‘Why’ and know why you are doing it; that is the something you can always fall back on.
“That will be something they will ask Louis from day one and continue to ask him throughout his NFL career. Everybody in the league wants to make money and play, but ultimately you have to know your reason why because when it gets tough, and believe me it really will, will the money be enough.
“It is a challenge which I relished. For me it was a successful journey for me and a successful experience. I wouldn’t change it for everything. It changed me.”