Louis Rees-Zammit revealed he received a message support from Taylor Swift as he embarked on his NFL dream this summer.
The Welshman shocked the world of rugby union when he swapped sporting stardom in the United Kingdom for the American dream in the NFL earlier this year.
The former ruby star was signed by the Kansas City Chiefs on a three-year deal but failed to make the reigning Super Bowl champions’ 53-man roster in August.
The 23-year-old ultimately landed with the Jacksonville Jaguars, where he is a member of the franchise’s practice squad, after being cut from Andy Reid’s championship team.
However, Rees-Zammit appeared to have fond memories of his stint in Kansas City having garnered the support of his former teammates and seemingly their partners too.
He revealed that he received a handwritten note from Swift, who has been dating Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce for over a year, when he attended the pop icon’s Eras Tour convert in Cardiff.
‘I didn’t get to meet her,’ he told former Scotland rugby player Jim Hamilton on RugbyPass TV’s Walk the Talk.
‘I went to a concert and I got a hand-written note from her. This was before training camp so it was just like ‘good luck for the season, good luck for training camp, I heard you’re doing well’ – stuff like that.
‘It’s at home. It’s in Cardiff. I didn’t bring it out to America with me. That was pretty crazy, getting a letter from Taylor Swift. That was kind of the life I was in and I was just rolling with it.’
Rees-Zammit also opened up on the ‘cut-throat’ process of being dropped by the Kansas City Chiefs.
He revealed that he didn’t receive the news from Reid himself, instead being delivered the brutal news in a text message – and that he hasn’t heard from the head coach since leaving Arrowhead.
‘The thing with American football compared to pretty much any other sport is when you sign that contract, you have guaranteed money in that contract,’ he explained. ‘If you don’t have guaranteed money, they can cut you at any point.
‘That’s what happened to me. I went for a training camp and then there’s a day when everyone is in the building and they just start cutting players as they have to make a 53-man squad. It’s cut-throat. They’ve got a whole group of player personnel and scouts. They’ve got so many people for so many different position so you just get a text message.
‘It’s honestly just brutal. You’re all in the building and you get a text to basically say can you bring your iPad and meet them in a certain room. That’s when you know. If you don’t get the message, you’re in the team. If you do like I did, I got the message, went upstairs and spoke to player personnel. Had some positive chats with them.
‘But at the end of the day, I wanted to play receiver. They’ve got a strong receiving group at Kansas City. The Jags allowed me to be on their practice squad which is amazing. I got calls from Andy Reid and the general manager Brett Veach asking me to join the Chiefs. I had that from 10 other teams. I didn’t hear anything after I got cut but that’s just the business.’
‘I knew how cut-throat it was,’ he added. ‘And now I’ve experienced how cut-throat it is. You just get on with it. I’m not going to beg them to say so it’s just onto the next job. I’m as happy as ever at the Jags.’
Rees-Zammit had cemented himself as a superstar in rugby and his family have been out to Kansas City to support him during preseason training camp.
But he always faced an uphill task to make the team in his rookie season. Though the Welshman has long dreamed of a career in the NFL, he had never played a game of American football before joining the NFL’s International Player Pathway in January.
He was put through a 10-week boot camp before impressing scouts at a ‘pro day’. Rees-Zammit received interest from nearly half of the 32 teams in the NFL.
He chose the Chiefs and played in all three preseason games – against the Jaguars, the Lions and Bears – where he was used as a running back, a receiver, a kicker and a kick returner.
After being cut, he was handed a lifeline by the Jags, who are believed to have a signed him on a one-year deal to their practice squad.
