In an exclusive interview wih BOYLE Sports, Christian Scotland-Williamson has claimed that the experience in the NFL will improve Louis Rees-Zammit as a rugby player.
The former Worcester Warriors and Harlequins lock also gave a heartfelt story about the realities NFL players experience when attempting to rise through the ranks when compared with rugby.
He also argues that America could elevate the rugby in terms of commercial power and new talent.
NFL Experience
NFL Will Improve Louis
It's two-pronged. Firstly, he'll be a better athlete than he ever was in rugby because his ability to cut and change direction wouldn't have been challenged in the same way as what it is in the NFL as a running back.
I'd expect him to be a much-improved winger on the international stage and the Premiership for sure. But then I think the greater and the bigger lesson is probably the resilience side and the ability to overcome challenges, which are far greater in the NFL.
Rugby players tended to have had it easier in their pathways. Ellis Genge has been fairly vocal about the privilege that is innate in the sport. The contrast with what NFL players often have to overcome is stark.
NFL Requirements
No Life Or No Life Prospects
One of my teammates told me a story I'll never forget.
He was never the best player in his high school team, but he said the best player ended up getting shot in the back of the head, cycled to the hospital, survived, but then was never quite right again. He ended up getting killed in a shootout with the police. And that is all by the age of 17.
No rugby player has a story remotely close to that to relate; that sport is saving me from that kind of outcome. That's why they work so hard. And so as I said, if you don’t burn your boats, and you're competing against someone for whom the alternative is no life or no life prospect, the hunger is completely different.
So, for him being released by a team, the first time in his life he would have experienced that, having to go to a different city, having to go to a new culture where people will probably ask you, ‘Is rugby a rugby profession?” Do you get paid for that?’
In terms of the understanding and the ecosystem in America, rugby has no relevance.
NFL A Different Level
And if you think about the scale, the quantum of compensation as well, you can be a big dog in rugby, and you're not even a rookie minimum in the NFL.
His ability to learn three different playbooks, his ability to understand the mental pressure of each practice, having to really show what you're made of or to get the respect of other people, will help him.
So now he will be coming back with a new perspective to be a dominant force in something that he has been so successful at already.
The “Real Reality” Of NFL
It depends on what your prior understanding of American football is. So, for me when I broke my back, I really became an NFL historian. I consumed so much football that I really understood the culture before I got there. And then I applied all the lessons.
I just lived the monastic life, got an apartment on the same street as a facility, so from my bed to my locker was eight minutes. It was just about football. My Dad, being a boxer, I had grown up with that mindset of self-discipline.
The glitz, the glamour, and the shiny bits can definitely capture your imagination. But then, when you actually meet with the reality of lining up opposite someone who is equally hungry for the job. It’s two dogs and one bone.
There's two dogs who are trying to compete for one job. Ultimately, are you willing to compete every day? Are you willing to cope with the pressure of having a bad practice and being able to bounce back?
Until you really get into an NFL environment or an NFL training camp, you don't really see how pressured it is, where the contracts aren't guaranteed, employment is not guaranteed, your health is not guaranteed. There's so much riding on each individual moment.
How do you build confidence, and how do you manage the perception of you being able to even remotely close the gap on what people who've played their whole lives can't even do?
NFL And Rugby
NFL To Rugby Crossover Potential?
As soon as that happens, rugby's in trouble!
The sporting talent pool is huge. There are so many genetic freaks in America that you don't come across in England, just because of the population size, just because of the sporting infrastructure and the multi-sport athletes.
The big one is the conditioning. I went from being never one of the fittest in rugby to probably the fittest player on the NFL team.
We have seen it with the rugby Sevens because it is an Olympic sport, and America really values Olympians; they had Perry Baker and Carlin Isles, two former football players, who, when they switched to rugby in their early years, didn't have the most broad skill set and rugby ability. But you could see the difference with them on the pitch of how they could play.
So, if rugby were able to provide the social sporting capital that it does in America, from say being an Olympian and then you had players from high school or college who didn't really think they're going to make it to the pros, then there are enough athletes who want to be a professional athlete in America. If you line them up body next to body, they can more than compete. It'll just be about the skill side and that development.
America Can Elevate Rugby
With regard to the Rugby World Cup, the Sevens programme is probably a glimpse into what could happen. Isles and Baker weren't even going to make it in the NFL proper.
So, if you had more players who were of similar calibre and had the right mindset, then I think that would be great if America was able to elevate rugby. That’s where all the commercial power is.
NFL To Rugby Switch “Logical”
Exactly. There are 32 teams in the NFL, and there's also Canada. Apart from that, if you are a contact athlete, where do you go if you want to keep playing?
So, rugby for me is the next logical stop on that journey. They do all think that we're crazy for playing without pads, though!!
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