The 22-year-old winger, who has been capped by Wales 32 times will be a massive loss to Warren Gatland’s Six Nations already ravaged by multiple injuries.
Rees-Zammit made his debut for Wales in October 2020 and scored five tries for his country at last autumn’s World Cup, helping them to reach the quarter-finals.
The speedster, however, sees his future in the National Football League and aims for a spot on a team in 2024 and has been released by Gloucester, a club he has spent all his career to date at.
“I am extremely excited to take up a once in a lifetime opportunity to pursue a new challenge,” commented Rees-Zammit on his decision.
“At this age and stage of my life, I am excited to explore a unique challenge that has the potential to diversify my skillset.
“My immense gratitude goes to Gloucester Rugby, a club that is extremely close to my heart and played a huge part in my life.
“I am very proud and would like to thank George Skivington [head coach] and Alex Brown [chief executive] for allowing me to head in a different direction over the next few weeks.
“I have had the incredible honour of playing rugby for my country which, as a proud Welshman, I’ve never taken for granted.
“However, I believe that this is the right time for me to realise another professional goal of playing American Football in the US. Those opportunities don’t come around very often.
“My best wishes go to Wales for the upcoming Six Nations and the year ahead, while I will continue to closely follow the continued progress of Gloucester from afar.”
Warren Gatland who learned about the decision just half an hour before naming his squad for the Six Nations said:
“I spoke to Louis about half an hour ago. It’s a little bit of a shock. Things have happened a bit quickly. Louis said he had an approach on Sunday.
“He rang me to give me the information, thanked me for his time at the World Cup. He’s 22 and always dreamed of playing in the NFL.
“He feels if he doesn’t take that opportunity now, it might not come up again. I wished him all the best and asked him what his next steps were if it didn’t work out – he said he would come back”.
[Lead image: Welsh Rugby Union]
