‘I’m nonstop trying to learn this playbook’… Chiefs’ bold bet for 2024 is desperate to make the team

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In a year as challenging and in need of focus as 2024, the Kansas City Chiefs felt comfortable making a bold and interesting bet.

One thing’s for sure: in free agency and the Draft, KC’s main focus was to strengthen the receiving corps by bringing explosion and speed.

To fulfil these two requirements, Brett Veach did his job and signed Hollywood Brown and selected Xavier Worthy.

In the space between signing the two players, the organisation made a shocking and courageous move.

Louis Rees-Zammit, the Welsh rugby league star, was announced as a new member of the Chiefs.

KC’s bet: pros and cons

The franchise’s gamble was a risky one, for obvious reasons:

• A player who has never lived or been involved in the American football environment.
• Rees-Zammit comes from a different sport, although similar in some respects, with specific and possibly even more complex rules.
• In the year of the three-peat, the signings need to be minimally correct in order to help as much as possible in the mission.

On the other side is a fast, athletic player who loves the NFL. Welsh is here to play running back or special teams.

For him, the path is much more tortuous than that of players who are already familiar with the sport of the oval ball.

How the Welsh player is adapting to the NFL

Already properly settled in for training camp, the Chiefs squad will begin a heavy training session with September in mind.

This week, Rees-Zammit spoke to the media about his process of adapting to the NFL and, of course, to the Chiefs. Expectations and challenges.

“I think it’s just learning all the plays,” said about the main challenge for him so far.

“(It’s) so different (than) what I’m used to. Obviously, in rugby you don’t have to learn as much, but I think physically I’m in good shape. I think rugby really prepared me for this with the conditioning (and) just being in physical shape. I think the biggest difference is just mental. Just staying on top of things, staying on top of the playbook and making no mistakes.”

He made a point of mentioning the presence of the equipment, such as the pads, and how they were something he was getting used to.

“With the International Player Pathway, we were in there for about two months – pads and helmet, so I was just trying to get used to it, to be honest,” noted. “Obviously, never training with pads and a helmet is quite unusual, but that really prepped me to be able to come in here and kind of get the ball rolling straight away – not having to get used to the pads and the helmet, so I was pretty prepared for that.”

The effort Rees-Zammit is putting into his dream

Rees-Zammit is in a hurry. That seems quite clear to anyone who sees him speak.

A positive rush from someone who has the will and ambition to make his dream come true.

“I’m nonstop trying to learn this playbook because as soon as I can start not having to think about playing and just playing fast, that’s the biggest thing for me.”

A priori, if he does indeed make the 90-man roster, he should initially be used on special teams, largely because of the new kickoff rule implemented by the NFL.

“”The first goal is to make the team,” claimed. “I know special teams is going to be massive for me. I’ve been working really hard on that … and just learning the playbook, learning the running back roles, being able to learn pass protection and then learning my routes off that.”

The Welsh player also mentioned all his teammates who have been important in his development.

“The likes of Pat [Mahomes], Carson [Wentz], Ian [Book] and Chris [Oladokun], everyone’s so helpful. I’m a new guy coming in and not really knowing much about the playbook, [but they are] allowing me to learn, giving me time but at the same time pushing me as hard as I can because I need to try and learn this quickly!”.

The NFL as a whole has been bringing in more and more foreign players to make the league more global.