Negativity around LRZ’s NFL move says more about rugby than him – Andy Goode

It’s the boldest of moves and the rugby world should be right behind Louis Rees-Zammit’s attempt to crack the NFL, I just can’t fathom all the negativity.

I think it’s a very rugby mindset to want to keep someone in their box and to infer all sorts of things about rugby itself rather than seeing it as one man chasing his dream and trying to be the best he can be.

We all know rugby is in a difficult financial position and the NFL has untold riches at the top level but this isn’t anything to do with that, after all he’s going to be on around £170,700 per year for the foreseeable future even if he does make it to a practice squad.

That’s significantly less than he was getting playing for Gloucester and Wales. The ultimate carrot is that the top wide receiver is on £21m per year and the top running back on £13.5m per year but it’s a real stretch to make this about the finances of the sport.

Rees-Zammit is a global star in rugby but that means he’s a big fish in a small pond, he has 32 international caps at the age of 22, has scored a hat-trick at a World Cup and has already been on a British & Irish Lions tour.

He’s done it all and could have another decade or more of his career ahead of him. Why should he just stay in his lane and do it all again and again? We should applaud him for stepping out of his comfort zone and taking on the biggest of challenges.

The athletic ability on show in the NFL and even at college level in the positions he’s going to be attempting to play, wide receiver or running back, is phenomenal and he’ll be up against players who have grown up in the sport.

Christian Wade gave it a good go as a running back and was close to making it with the Buffalo Bills but that final leap to being on a NFL roster is a huge summit to ascend. Most assume Rees-Zammit will be more suited to wide receiver but only time will tell.

It’s interesting to see a couple of former rugby players in Harry Mallinder and Darragh Leader trying to make it as a punter or kicker in the same International Player Pathway as Rees-Zammit.

I was offered the chance to make a similar move to the Canadian Football League (CFL) after playing in the Churchill Cup in 2005 but I didn’t feel like I could at the age of 25 and in the middle of a relatively successful rugby career.

That’s the point in all this, Rees-Zammit is 22 and has achieved most things already which helps but it’s a massively brave move to give it all up at least temporarily to start playing an entirely new sport.

Of course, he can return to rugby and potentially still earn 100 international caps even if he doesn’t quite make it in the NFL but he won’t be thinking like that.

Having messaged him, I don’t get the sense he’s under any illusions about the sheer scale of the task ahead of him either and events have unfolded quickly but he knows how tough it is going to be and is willing to put in the hard yards.

There are all sorts of motivations when it comes to a move as well so there might be a lifestyle element to it and a desire to move to the US and if there’s also an element of him seeing an opportunity to build his own brand even more, then fair play to him.

In rugby, whether it’s press officers, coaches or pundits, almost everyone wants players to be protected and not show their individual personality or they highlight the dangers of putting yourself out there.

If we’re having a conversation about growing the game, then players building their brands, expressing themselves and engaging fans on social media and beyond has to be absolutely central to that.

Rather than seeing this as a negative reflection on rugby, which I just don’t get at all, people should see it as a huge opportunity for the sport in a territory that it has consistently failed to crack if we’re being honest.

If Louis Rees-Zammit does make it in the NFL, think of the interest that could generate in his background, where he has come from and what rugby has to offer. I’m sure cameras will be following him around and documenting the journey and that’s good for the sport too.

The Rugby World Cup is in the USA in 2031 and we all hope that will play a big part in boosting the sport on those shores but Rees-Zammit could have a massive positive impact in the coming years and turn people on to rugby over there.

He had huge offers in rugby terms from Japan and France, they would have been the easy options and the most lucrative ones in the short term, so this move is about testing himself and trying to be the best he can be.

People can look back on their career in any walk of life and there’ll be times when they’ve played it safe, which can be a regret, so I think for him to take this opportunity and put himself out there is something we should all applaud rather than pour cold water on.

The fact that some are writing him off before he’s even stepped into his cleats will provide an extra source of motivation I’m sure but I think it says more about rugby as a sport than it does about Rees-Zammit that the response to this move hasn’t simply been support for a young man chasing his dream and taking on a colossal challenge.