If Louis Rees-Zammit makes a success of his NFL dream, he won't be the first top sportsperson to change disciplines.
Welsh international Rees-Zammit, 22, announced on Tuesday that he was quitting rugby to try his luck on the other side of the Atlantic. Instead of taking part in the 2024 Six Nations for his country, he'll be going in search of a spot on an NFL roster for the next full season.
"I would like to take this opportunity to announce a significant career decision that I have taken after careful consideration," the Gloucester star said in a statement. "In a move that I am extremely excited about, I can confirm that I will be joining the NFL's International Player Pathway program in pursuit of earning a spot on an NFL roster in the United States for 2024.
"Opting to step away from international rugby on the eve of the Six Nations has been a painstaking decision, but I am extemely excited to take up a once in a lifetime opportunity to pursue a new challenge. My immense gratitude also goes to Gloucester Rugby - a club that is extremely close to my heart - and particularly George Skivington and Alex Brown, for allowing me to head in a different direction over the next few weeks."
Rees-Zammit's path isn't a well-trodden one, but he isn't unique either. Here, Mirror Sport takes a look at a few other athletes who have decided to change things up and try to make a success of things in a second sport.
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Usain Bolt
Olympic champion sprinter Bolt has made no secret of his football fandom, and pursued a career in the sport after ending his career as an elite athlete. The Jamaican trained with Australian side Central Coast Mariners and impressed in friendlies, but his spell there didn't last long.
“I don’t want to say it wasn’t dealt with properly, but I think we went about it, not the way we should and you learn your lesson, you live and you learn," Bolt told Reuters after calling it quits. "It was a good experience. I really enjoyed just being in a team and it was must different from track and field and it was fun while it lasted.”
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Sprinter Usain Bolt tried his hand at football (AFP/Getty Images)“I’m just doing many different things ... the sports life is over, so I’m now moving into different businesses, I have a lot of things in the pipeline, so as I say, I’m just dabbling in everything and trying to be a business man now.”
Rebecca Romero
Romero is another Olympian who attempted to prove she could do it in a second sport. And the Team GB star was a bigger success story than Bolt.
The first Olympic medal came in rowing, with Romero taking silver in the Athens games in 2004. She was back on the British team in Beijing four years later, but as a cyclist, and a gold medal in China ensured she was the second woman ever to medal in two different sports at the games.
Rebecca Romero won Olympic gold in two sports (Daily Mirror)"It's been so hard, I can't explain," Romero said after winning her cycling gold. "I was facing my demons but I knew I had it in me. I had to actually check it was me when I crossed the finish line."
Josh Lambo
If Rees-Zammit succeeds in the NFL, he won't be the first to do so after starting out in a different sport. Josh Lambo started out in the other football, making it into Major League Soccer as a goalkeeper, but ultimately decided becoming a placekicker in American football was the job for him.
A United States youth international in his first sport, he would go on to enjoy a career with the Jacksonville Jaguars among other teams. He played a part in the Jaguars' run to the AFC Championships in 2018, where they narrowly lost to New England.
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Lambo, now 33, retired from his second sport in 2023. "Four years in @MLS and seven in the @NFL have led me to things I could only dream of, and now I want to help others accomplish their goals as I become a speaker and author," he wrote in his retirement announcement.
Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan played baseball in between his NBA stints (Focus on Sport/Getty Images)Perhaps the most famous multi-sport athlete, Jordan was one of the NBA's best across two spells in the competition. In between, though, he had a short-lived foray into baseball.
During the 1993-94 season, the Chicago Bulls legend took time out to play minor league baseball, but it didn't last long. An iconic "I'm back" announcement arrived in March 1995, announcing his return to the Bulls' roster.
After three championships in his first spell, Jordan added another threepeat upon his return. He walked away once more in 1999, only to make another brief NBA return with the Washington Wizards between 2001 and 2003.
Victoria Pendleton
Back to Olympians, now, and cycling champion Pendleton. The British star won a sprint gold at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, before adding two medals at her home games in London four years later.
The London success marked the end of her cycling career, but a new pursuit as a jockey would follow. She placed fifth at the Foxhunter Chase at Cheltenham, claiming it trumped her cycling medals as a career high.
Victoria Pendleton spent time as a jockey after ending her cycling career (PA)"This is probably the greatest achievement of my life," she said at the time. "It was right up there with anything in the Olympic velodrome. I didn’t expect that, it was humbling and I feel so honoured to have ridden at such a prestigious event.”
Sonny Bill Williams
Rees-Zammit's attempts to move on from rugby come several years after All Blacks star Sonny Bill Williams attempted the same. Williams, part of New Zealand's World Cup winning squad in 2011, had already made his professional boxing debut before that run to glory.
The Auckland-born star had already traded rugby league for rugby union, but boxing was yet another twist. His 10 bouts brought nine wins and just one defeat, and he had a 7-0 record when he returned to his main pursuit to win a second Rugby World Cup.
"I'm 37, I've always said that if I cop a lot of punishment, that could be it," Williams said after his one defeat in the ring, against Mark Hunt in 2022. "If this is the end of my sporting career, it’s been a good one ... whatever is written for me is written for me."
Tim Wiese
Tim Wiese traded football for professional wrestling (AFP/Getty Images)The second former football goalkeeper on this list, Wiese was a German international with Champions League experience. He was on the bench for his country when they knocked England out of the 2010 World Cup, but four years later - at the age of 32 - he decided his future lay in professional wrestling.
Wiese joined the WWE in 2014, making his debut in the promotion two years later. He wouldn't remain a wrestler for too long, though, with his time in the sport coming to an end in 2017 before made a brief return to football with lower-league side Dillingen.
"I wanted to see what he was made of and he was moving pretty good," fellow WWE star Cesaro said of Wiese ahead of his debut. "It is a big change from football - the real football, if any Americans are reading - to wrestling but he definitely has the build for it."
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