Gloucester wing and former Buffalo Bills running back Christian Wade still believes Louis Rees-Zammit will be a success in the NFL, despite his latest setback.

The former Wales star made the switch to American football earlier this year, but has failed to make the Kansas City Chiefs’ 53-man roster for the upcoming season on ‘cutdown day’.

He has now been placed on a waivers list – where any of the other 31 teams across the NFL can pick him on their active roster – but he is expected to remain with the reigning Super Bowl champions on their practice squad.

Speaking to the media, Wade detailed he still thinks Rees-Zammit’s fate has been through no fault of his own.

“A lot of the time people try and compare it to sport over here, there isn’t really a comparison,” Wade said.

“He wouldn’t have made the team off a good or bad performance, there’s a load of things that come into it that have nothing to do with him as a player.

“The transition is hard for anybody, even for the guys playing from High School or College, the transition is what it is. What you see on TV, the games and selection and stuff, it doesn’t have anything to do with how hard the transition is.”

Louis Rees-Zammit: What next for the Welshman after failing to make NFL grade at Kansas City Chiefs?

The Kansas City Chiefs are also blessed with some of the best players in the game right now. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight-end Travis Kelce are already touted to be future Hall of Famers, and the team have won three of the past five Super Bowls and are also back-to-back champions.

“For him to do that is success in itself”

With the calibre of players in front of him in the pecking order, for Rees-Zammit to even make the Chiefs squad is a mighty fine achievement, and Wade said he should count his progress so far as “success in itself”.

“It is completely different, the way sport over there works,” said Wade. “Just to be in the NFL and be able to represent the badge is the goal. For him to do that is success in itself.

“Anything else he does is a bonus. Now it is up to him to try and put himself in a position to be able to contribute as much as possible.

“Contributing, whether it is just be being in the building, giving good reps in practice, getting game-time, making good plays.

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“That is all everyone is trying to do, get to the league and once they get there just try to survive. That is what it is.”

Rees-Zammit will likely take up a spot on the Chiefs practice squad, but with the new rules on international players he would count as a free-hit on this external roster if chosen.

Insider knowledge

Wade knows all about life in the NFL after he went through the same process to the pinnacle of American Football. He left Wasps in 2018 to pursue an opportunity on the coveted International Player Pathway, and was eventually drafted to the Buffalo Bills in 2019.

He didn’t make an appearance in the NFL, but still gave a good account of himself in the sport with a now-viral 65 metre touchdown in pre-season. Wade later returned to rugby in 2022.

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