Louis Rees-Zammit has been added to the Jacksonville Jaguars practice squad as he continues his dream of making the NFL.
The former rugby star was waived by the Kansas City Chiefs on Tuesday, the day NFL teams had to trim their rosters to 53 players.
A source confirmed to ESPN on Wednesday that Rees-Zammit was headed to the Jaguars. The team confirmed the news on Thursday.
He will join their practice squad -- a 17-member unit that can work out during the week with NFL teams -- but he is ineligible to play in NFL games unless he is elevated to the active roster.
Rees-Zammit, 22, was signed as a running back by the Chiefs on a three-year deal after successfully coming through the International Player Pathway program (IPP). He was a star in rugby union, playing for Wales and touring with the British & Irish Lions. But it was always his dream to play in the NFL.
For the Chiefs, he played in all three of their preseason games, where he featured as a running back and wide receiver and on special teams (on both punt and kick return teams). He carried the ball six times in the preseason for 22 yards and registered one reception for three yards. He even tried out as a kicker.
However, he didn't make the Chiefs' final cut before the season. Each NFL team is allocated one extra slot on its practice squad for players in the IPP program, and the Chiefs had already handed that spot to Nigerian offensive tackle Chukwuebuka Godrick.
Asked Thursday whether the Chiefs wanted Rees-Zammit on their practice squad, general manager Brett Veach said: We kept it open. We wanted the kid to really look at maybe some different opportunities as well."
Veach, though, had plenty of praise for how Rees-Zammit took to the sport in such a short period of time.
"Pretty remarkable when you think about a player that doesn't have any pro American football experience, no middle school, no high school, no big-time college experience," he said. "We were kind of thinking about it going through camp. Imagine not having any sort of foundational background just to be thrown in and be doing one-on-one pass pros with a Drue Tranquill or Nick Bolton. I mean, that's pretty incredible.
"I think for him it'll be just finding out that exact position, running back, maybe a big slot receiver. I think he does have some potential as a returner. I'm not so sure he couldn't be a kicker. I mean, he had an outstanding leg and with this new role he can do some different things, provide some versatility.
"I think the Jacksonville thing and their relationship overseas and what that brings to the table going overseas twice a year. I think that was probably something that interests him, but phenomenal kid, phenomenal worker. Just thinking back on the tremendous amount of progress he made in a short amount of time, I think he'll continue to grow and develop and I think he found a really good spot there in Jacksonville."
Rees-Zammit is now headed to Jacksonville, one of several franchises that showed interest in him after his impressive showing in the IPP pro day in March.
Information from ESPN's Adam Teicher contributed to this report.