Racing 92 winger and former Buffalo Bills practice squad member Christian Wade has backed Louis Rees-Zammit in his decision to try and forge a career in the NFL, but warned of a hellish pre-season once the ex-Wales player gets picked up by a team.
Wade, 32, spent three years with the Bills battling to get onto their main squad roster, but was released in 2022 having not made an appearance in the league.
The former Wasps and one-time England player revealed he had no regrets about his decision on an episode of The Rugby Paper Podcast in August of that year, but admits he had to put himself through the ringer after progressing beyond the International Player Pathway (IPP) – the programme Rees-Zammit has signed up for.
“You do have to go to a dark place,” he said. “It's not about going to a dark place once, it is for months and years.
“The pathway programme will be tough, but that is the easy part. Once you get picked up by a team then that is when the hard work starts and gets harder and harder.
“There will be a mini-camp where everyone is fighting for a job and their livelihood. It's not like you have a two year contract and you can chill for a bit and you're getting paid.
“You can get cut at any time. Once you get through you have five weeks off then you go into pre-season, and that is the pre-season from hell.
“You start at 7 am and finish at 9 pm. It's crazy.”
Beyond sacrificing the security of a hugely successful club and international career in rugby, Wade also says that there is a financial risk to Rees-Zammit's trip across the pond.
Though the salaries paid in the NFL are vastly higher than those in rugby union, it is also much more difficult to attain a solid, stable income, such is the brutal level of competition to succeed in the sport.
“With Louis money cannot be a factor, he won't be properly paid until he makes a team. You get a basic salary for the early weeks, but it is no more than pocket money, the big money comes when you get signed.
“It is good money if you can get into a team and make a roster and stay on it, but the money is not guaranteed. You can sign a deal worth a few million dollars but then get cut after two months, and you don't make anything.
“You have got a hundred guys competing for 53 places. During that camp it gets smaller and smaller by the week. By the end of the pre-season you will have maybe 70 guys, then on the final cut day guys will be called in and asked to bring their playbooks. That is the end of the road for them.”
Despite the challenges the Cherry and Whites former try machine will face, and the fact that he admits that Rees-Zammit is leaving behind an even more successful rugby career than the one he did, Wade has huge admiration for the Welshman's decision.
On top of the physical strain and psychological pressure that such a move comes with Wade reveals he felt lonely when first making the move, and has offered Rees-Zammit support if he feels the same.
“I wish him well. With something like this it is such a big move to make you have to give anyone who goes on the journey the utmost respect.
“Just to think about it is hard, and to go there, let alone leave rugby behind, something he has played all his life and giving up his international place with Wales and possible selection for the Lions.
“I wasn't really giving up those things. I wasn't giving up what Louis is giving up. I had one cap for England, been a replacement on the 2013 Lions and gone on various tours.
“His situation is very different. You have to respect his decision for his career. It is a very big one.
“I would love to reach out to him to chat to him and see where his mind is at. Once I got the phone call from the Bills was one of the best days of my life, but once I was in there reality strikes.
“I was in my hotel room, training every day, not knowing anybody. I couldn't really call anybody because of the different time zones. I had all the playbook stuff I had to learn.
“You can quickly become very lonely. I want to reach out to him to let him know that if he needs anything or wants to know what it is really like he can hit me up.”
Christian Wade was speaking to Instant Casino, check out their site through the link in their name.
For exclusive stories and all the detailed rugby news you need, subscribe to The Rugby Paper website, digital edition, or newspaper from as little as 14p a day.
