Could Louis Rees-Zammit be ‘the most marketable athlete of all time’ if he succeeds in the NFL?
By Aimee Lewis, CNN
(CNN) — Former Philadelphia Eagles star Jason Kelce said rookie Louis Rees-Zammit has the potential to be “the most marketable player of all time” should he succeed in the NFL.
Rees-Zammit, 23, quit rugby union in January after a hugely successful international career with Wales and club career in the English top division. In March, he signed a deal with the Kansas City Chiefs having impressed on the NFL’s International Player Pathway (IPP) program.
The Welshman, who has never played American football at any organized level, will now attempt to earn a place on the Chiefs’ 53-man roster for the new regular season, which starts in September.
Speaking in the latest episode of his “New Heights” podcast with his brother, Chiefs star Travis Kelce, the legendary center said: “I’m excited … With a smile like that, this guy, if he works out, he’s gonna be the most marketable player of all time, look at that face.”
Travis Kelce replied “got to love a debonair young man,” but warned that Rees-Zammit had a tough few months ahead of him as he transitions to American football.
‘It’s going to be a humbling experience at first,” he said.
“It’s not easy to just make that jump, they’re two completely different games. But he is an athlete and that’s what the Chiefs saw. He’s a smart kid, a smart player. So he’s gonna be able to pick up the offense eventually.
“But it’s gonna be a tough few months for him here while he’s getting acclimated to the NFL.
“We’ve been doing this since we were kids, so we’re gonna have those little instincts that we’ve built over the years that he has to start to catch up with.”
Travis said his advice to Rees-Zammit was to not get overwhelmed and that “everybody believes that you have the potential to be able to play.”
Jason Kelce ‘very incorrect’ on Welsh people
Jason Kelce later issued a mea culpa on social media for comments he made on the show after his description of what he considered to be a stereotypical Welsh person raised a few eyebrows, with even actor and Wrexham co-owner Rob McElhenney saying the former NFL star was “incredibly wrong” with his assessment.
Kelce had said he thought Welsh people were “rich, upper class, just beautiful White people,” before going on to say that Rees-Zammit was the “running stereotype of what I would think of with a Welsh person.” He admitted at the time that he was unsure whether his description was an accurate stereotype.
Kelce then posted on X that he had been “very incorrect on this.”
“Based on further assessment since these incorrect statements, not sure why I had these preconceptions in my mind, but I have found that the Welsh seem exactly like my kind of people. Happy to be incredibly wrong,” the post said.
“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” star McElhenney, who co-owns Welsh soccer club Wrexham with Hollywood actor Ryan Reynolds, offered to show Kelce around Wales, adding on X, formerly known as Twitter, “I might know a few people.”
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