Jacksonville Jaguars’ Louis Rees-Zammit shocked by Prince William who ‘was better than me’ at an NFL skill

Louis Rees-Zammit returns to London, playing a new role and embracing the challenges that (American) football threw at him.

Rees-Zammit found himself with the Prince of Wales, Prince William, comparing who had the best arm as they threw the football during a youth football game.

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In a talkSPORT exclusive with Brian T. Smith, Rees-Zammit says it’s not even close.

“I was really shocked, he was better than me,” said Rees-Zammit.

“I think he said he played water polo or something when he was younger, so he has a good arm.

“He was so much better than me, which shocked me. He had a big spiral.

“He was throwing it like it was easy, so fair play to him.”

Prince William one, Rees-Zammit zero.

The Welsh-born NFL player is back in London midway through a two-week stint with the Jacksonville Jaguars for their annual trip to the UK.

The Jags lost on Sunday to the Chicago Bears 35-16 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in a sloppy match, and will now look to make amends this Sunday against the New England Patriots at Wembley Stadium.

Rees-Zammit wasn’t on the active roster against the Bears and won’t be when they play the Patriots, but that hasn’t discouraged the newly minted wide receiver.

Making the position change from running back to wide receiver was a challenge, but one Rees-Zammit embraced.

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“I wouldn’t have done this if I didn’t want to pursue this dream,” Rees-Zammit said. “I’m trying to learn a million things at once, but at the same time, I’m enjoying it.

“I go back now, I continue to learn the playbook, so when I get on the field, I think less, I play faster, because at the end of the day all of these, or most of these boys, had a complete OTA, a complete training camp to learn all the pieces and go through everything.

“Know the schedules with the quarterbacks. There’s a lot of little details that need to happen. I kind of came in the first week of the season and I’m trying to learn as much as I can in a short period of time to get an opportunity.”

“But I’m eager and excited to work hard day in and day out to make this dream a reality.”

Rees-Zammit was not discouraged by not dressing well on game days. He knows what he signed up for.

“I knew this journey would be difficult,” Rees-Zammit said.

“You have a lot of doubters and you try not to listen to them and just try to focus on what you can control.

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“And for me, that means working as hard as I can every day, on and off the field, to get an opportunity. It’s going to take a little time.”

The Jaguars are off to a poor 1-5 start, with head coach Doug Pederson practicing for his job and franchise quarterback Trevor Lawrence struggling, they may need to find a spark somewhere.

And that spark may well already be in the squad, in Rees-Zammit.

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