By John Rigolizzo
Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver and former rugby union star Jacob Rees-Zammit set a hard deadline for his NFL career.
Rees-Zammit made headlines in 2024 by retiring from rugby to join the NFL’s International Player Pathway Program. He originally signed with the Kansas City Chiefs but was cut and signed with Jacksonville; he was released at the end of the season but re-signed with the Jags in 2025 and was given their international player roster exemption.
In an interview with UK sports talk radio station talkSPORT, Rees-Zammit said he only has one or two years to make an NFL roster before he returns to rugby.
Rees-Zammit began the interview by talking about the transition from rugby to football. He said the biggest transition was competing with players who have played the sport since they were very young. He also noted that there are around 500 plays in the playbook, and about 150 in a game plan, which often leads to mistakes.
“This is why you have training camp and you have these past 10 weeks to make your mistakes before heading into the season because when you’re playing a regular season game, you can’t make any mistakes,” he said.
However, he noted that he needs to make as few mistakes as possible because mistakes lessen your chance to make the team.
The hosts later pointed out that Rees-Zammit is taking a risk of failure and giving up a successful rugby career in the process.
“I obviously weighed that up, making the decision,” he responded. “I also did it at an age where—I was 22 at the time. International players probably get about two to three years to make it in the NFL. So I wanted to do it at a time that I maybe could come back to rugby. I’m 24 now, probably got one more year to try and make it, one to two more years, depending on how this year goes. I‘ll be 25, 26 going back to rugby, and I’d like to think I can still play at the highest level.”
However, he was optimistic that the skills he learned playing football will translate to rugby.
“I’ve learned so many different movements that I never even thought about in rugby,” he said. “Obviously, the way you train is so much different but I think that would help me massively … If I did have to go back, I think I’ll definitely be able to excel again.”
Rees-Zammit also said the conditioning is different: in rugby, players have to be able to run consistently for 80 minutes; in the NFL, players run short, sharp sprints for a period of three to four seconds. He said at his current weight, he would only be able to last about 20 minutes.
However, he said that while rugby tackles are more technical and NFL players wear pads, the hits hurt just as much between the two sports because NFL players tackle as hard as they can.
Rees-Zammit was originally signed by the Chiefs to play running back but switched to receiver when he joined the Jaguars. Rees-Zammit, who stands at 6 ‘2 and 209 pounds and ran a 4.43 at the IPPP Pro Day in 2024, says he likes playing receiver more.
“I mean you can use your speed more in playing as a wide receiver but running back, it’s a lot easier to just hand the ball to you, allow you to try and break a hole, beat a defender,” he said. “They’re two very different positions but for me, because of my speed and stuff, I think wide receiver was the position for me.”
He also said he tried kickoffs and enjoyed it, but the ball is smaller and heavier than a rugby ball.
Rees-Zammit ended up in a home away from home of sorts. The Jaguars have an active fanbase in the UK and Ireland; they will play their 11th game at Wembley against the Rams in October 2025; Jaguars owner Shad Khan also owns Fulham Football Club of the Premier League. Florida is also a familiar place to him personally.
“I’ve always loved Florida,” he said. “That was our family holiday growing up, so we did that every year pretty much. So to be able to live there now is great. My family came over with me, so that made it 10 times easier.”
