20 January 2024 , 04:55
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Former rugby star Louis Rees-Zammit has bid an emotional farewell to his girlfriend as he jets off to Florida for a ten-week NFL camp.
He's part of the league's International Player Pathway Programme (IPP), after surprising fans when announcing he was leaving Gloucester Rugby and the Welsh National Team to pursue his 'NFL dream'. The 22 year old has two-and-a-half months to impress NFL teams but said a heartfelt goodbye to influencer girlfriend Saffron Barker on Friday.
Barker, 23, is a well-known influencer and YouTuber who started dating Rees-Zammit in November 2023. She drove him to the airport on Friday and posted an Instagram story to say her goodbyes.
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"Dropped this one off to the airport this morning for his new venture! Going to miss you so much," Barker wrote to her two million Instagram followers. The video she posted was sound tracked by the song 'Life Gets Hard', as she prepared for her first long-distance test.
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Rees-Zammit also posted on Instagram, sharing a photo of him sitting on the Florida-bound flight watching sports. It's a big step for the former rugby player, as he's never played football before. He's aware of the challenge but is feeling confident he can impress NFL teams.
The young sports star, who was super quick as a rugby winger, is now trying to make it big in football. He hopes his speed will help him score goals. "In terms of a position, in rugby, I want the ball at all times," Rees-Zammit said.
Rees-Zammit's girlfriend dropped him off at the airport on Friday (Saffronbarker / Instagram)
Rees-Zammit looked very happy after boarding his Florida-bound flight (lrzammit / Instagram)"So, I think it would be somewhere on the offense, running back, receiver, a bit of a hybrid. Whatever I get told, I will do. My main attribute in rugby was my speed and that's very transferable. I would like to say I have good hands and I don't drop the ball that often."
"But this is a different sport and the ball comes at you very fast, so I understand that's going to take a bit of work. There are a lot of footwork skills I have and footwork is massive in American football." He knows he might not get picked after his training camp, but he's not worried about that right now.
"I have never played the game so it's going to be very difficult for me at the start," he said. "There's going to be a lot of me watching films and certain plays. That's going to be the biggest challenge."
"There are going to be a lot of different skills but, at the same time, I can improve on what I've got already. The quicker I can learn the game, the better for me because then I can show everyone what I can do. I'm ready to work hard for 10 weeks and, fingers crossed, we can see what happens when I come out the other end."
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