Rees Lightning: Louis Rees-Zammit on NFL dreams after quitting rugby for US

Published

2 months ago

March 16, 2024

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Welsh rugby star Louis Rees-Zammit says making it in the NFL would be the “most proud moment of my life”.

The former Gloucester, Wales and British Lion winger sensationally quit rugby in January to switch to American Football.

The 23-year-old is completing a 10-week training and development camp as part of the International Player Pathway (IPP) in Bradenton, Florida.

The initiative is designed to attract players from outside the US to American Football.

On 20 March, Rees-Zammit will attend a Pro Day alongside 15 fellow attendees. It’s a showcase for their talents at which NFL team scouts will assess their suitability for a contract.

In an interview with Sky News, Rees-Zammit – nicknamed Rees Lightning because of his pace – talked of his ambition, his inspiration and of the NFL’s biggest fan, singer Taylor Swift.

On pursuing an NFL career

I’d regret this for the rest of my life if I never gave this a go. I fully believe that I can make this happen.

My dad has always been a role model to me and he played as a teenager – he loved the sport and brought me up to love the sport.

He always supported Washington. We had a season ticket at Manchester United for the 2014 season, so I would have been 13 and, literally every journey up, I used to watch someone called DeSean Jackson – I used to watch all his videos on the three-hour journey up to Manchester, I’d watch all his videos, his documentaries and stuff like that.

I want to continue (my dad’s) legacy and create my own and inspire however many people I can back home to give this a go and believe in themselves.

On telling his Wales coach Warren Gatland and colleagues

My teammates are so supportive, I couldn’t thank them enough. They all messaged me straight away, good luck messages.

Gats (Warren Gatland) was so great with me. He only found out five minutes before the announcement, so it was tough for him and it was tough for me, because it was definitely the toughest decision I’ve ever made in my life.

I gave him a ring and he was like: go out there, smash it.

He asked ‘if it doesn’t work out, what happens?’ For sure, I’d be going back to rugby. So, he left it like that and I’m so appreciative of that and I can’t thank the boys enough for the support they’ve given me.

On the challenges of switching to NFL

The transferable skills, in terms of ball in hand, playing running back… is going to be a lot easier for me.

Obviously, the helmet and pads are completely different. The first few days were difficult, in the sense that you’ve got to use your peripherals (vision) a lot, but we’ve been doing it for seven weeks and it’s one of those things where you just get used to it.

It’s more route running, being able to accelerate and stop on a dime.

You’re trying to run a route and then, all of a sudden, you’ve got to turn around and try and catch a ball, with a helmet on, but you just get used to it.

We do hundreds and hundreds of repetitions so, after a few, you get a feel for where you are.

Mentally, you have to be so switched on. It’s such a cut-throat business that the margin for error is so small, you can’t forget anything.

A lot of it is mental and being able to transfer the stuff you learn in the classroom to the field.

In rugby, there are probably, like, 20 plays. In the NFL, you’ve got to try and learn 80-100 a game.

On Pro Day, the showcase for NFL scouts

It really excites me to be able to show people what I can do in this sport. I’ve worked incredibly hard over the past seven, eight weeks to get a feel for the game, not just on the field but off the field as well.

I want to show these scouts what we’ve all learned and I’m just so excited to get to that day and perform.

I fully believe that I can make this work. If I had any doubt in my head that I couldn’t do this then I wouldn’t be here.

On Taylor Swift, the musician and celebrity NFL fan

I think it’s great for the sport. She’s attracting people to love the sport and it’s great. I like Taylor Swift as a singer, as well.

There are a lot of people that have mixed reviews or mixed opinions, but I think it’s doing really good for the sport and it’s attracting a lot.

On the Welsh team he left behind

It’s a new World Cup cycle in there, so we’ve got a lot of youngsters, which is great. We’ve had very good periods of play, it’s just putting an 80-minute performance together is the issue at the minute.

I have no doubt that the more games you play, the chemistry will get better, the boys will know how each other play, how each other run.

It’s difficult to just throw a load of players in there and just say “get better”.

What would success look like?

It’s not about money, it’s not about location, it’s about having a plan.

I don’t want to look too far ahead. I have no preferences on teams, I just want to be at a club that supports me and I will do everything for them.

For my dad to be able to say that his son’s in the NFL would be the most proud moment of my life – not just my dad, my brother and mum are so supportive of me and I could never do this without them.

We’re so close, we do everything together, I mean, they’re going to come out and live with me.

They’ve supported me since I started sport at six, I think they probably missed about eight games in my whole life and that was purely because of lockdown.

They’ve travelled the world with me and I can’t do enough to give back to them.

If he returns to rugby

I started at Gloucester and I’d want to finish at Gloucester. Ultimately, if they didn’t give me the opportunity to play professional rugby then I wouldn’t be here today.

So I absolutely love Gloucester, I love the club, I love the supporters, I love everyone there. So, Gloucester would be my preference.

US

Ticketmaster owner Live Nation facing monopoly lawsuit – after criticism from Taylor Swift

Published

8 hours ago

May 23, 2024

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Ticketmaster owner Live Nation facing monopoly lawsuit - after criticism from Taylor Swift

The US Justice Department (DOJ) is suing Live Nation, arguing the big concert promoter and its subsidiary, Ticketmaster, have been “monopolising” the live events industry.

The antitrust lawsuit was launched on Thursday by the DOJ, 30 US states, and the District of Columbia, with US Attorney General Merrick Garland saying: “It is time to break up Live Nation.”

The entertainment company merged with Ticketmaster back in 2010. Through Ticketmaster, Live Nation now controls roughly 80% or more of big venues’ primary ticketing for concerts, the suit says.

A Live Nation spokesperson said the company would defend itself “against these baseless allegations” and said the DOJ would lose in court because the case “ignores the basic economics of live entertainment”.

Ticketmaster, which overwhelmingly dominates the ticketing industry, has for years left fans and artists frustrated by hidden fees, rising costs, and limited ticket availability due to presales.

Its dominance in the industry came under scrutiny by US politicians in 2022, when Ticketmaster was forced to cancel its general sale of tickets to Taylor Swift’s much-anticipated Eras tour due to “extraordinarily high demands”.

At the time, the superstar criticised Ticketmaster on social media, saying it was “excruciating for me to just watch mistakes happen with no recourse” after Swift’s fans reported long wait times and site outages during the presales.

The star said 2.4 million fans had been able to purchase tickets, which was “truly amazing… but it really p***** me off that a lot of them feel like they went through several bear attacks to get them”.

Thursday’s legal action underscores the aggressive approach President Joe Biden’s antitrust enforcers have adopted as they seek to create more competition in a wide range of industries, from “big tech”, to healthcare, and groceries.

In March, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit against Apple alleging that the tech giant has monopoly power in the smartphone market.

“Live Nation relies on unlawful, anticompetitive conduct to exercise its monopolistic control over the live events industry
in the United States at the cost of fans, artists, smaller promoters, and venue operators,” Mr Garland said.

He added that, as a result, fans pay more in fees, artists have fewer opportunities to perform, and smaller promoters get squeezed out.

The lawsuit says Live Nation directly manages more than 400 musical artists and controls around 60% of concert promotions at major venues.

It also owns or controls more than 265 concert venues in North America.

In 2010, the Justice Department approved Ticketmaster’s controversial merger with Live Nation, with conditions intended
to stop the combined company from harming competition.

In 2020, a court extended most of the DOJ’s oversight of the merger to 2025 because, the department said, Ticketmaster
retaliated against stadiums and arenas that opted to use other ticketing companies.

Live Nation has said in the past that it was confident its business practices were legal, and that the probe had been prompted by complaints from rivals, including re-sellers.

A spokesperson for the company said on Thursday that the lawsuit “won’t solve the issues fans care about relating to ticket prices, service fees, and access to in-demand shows”.

Live Nation added that “calling Ticketmaster a monopoly may be a PR win for the DOJ in the short term, but it will lose in court because it ignores the basic economics of live entertainment” – stating that most service fees go to venues.

US

Judge blocks foreclosure auction of Elvis Presley’s Graceland

Published

17 hours ago

May 23, 2024

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Judge blocks foreclosure auction of Elvis Presley's Graceland

A judge has blocked the auction of Elvis Presley’s former home, by a company that claimed his estate failed to repay a loan which used the property as collateral.

Shelby County Chancellor JoeDae Jenkins issued a temporary injunction against the proposed auction of Graceland that had been scheduled for Thursday.

Mr Jenkins’ injunction essentially keeps in place a previous restraining order he had issued after the singer’s granddaughter Riley Keough filed a lawsuit to fight what she claimed was a fraudulent scheme.

A public notice for a foreclosure sale of the 13-acre estate in Memphis, Tennessee, posted earlier in May said Promenade Trust, which controls the Graceland museum, owes $3.8m (£3m) after failing to repay a loan taken out in 2018.

Keough, an actor, inherited the trust and ownership of the home following the death of her mother, Lisa Marie Presley, last year.

Naussany Investments and Private Lending said Lisa Marie Presley had used Graceland as collateral for the loan, according to the foreclosure sale notice.

Keough alleged that Naussany presented fraudulent documents regarding the loan in September 2023.

Neither Keough nor lawyers for Nassauny Investments were in court.

“Lisa Maria Presley never borrowed money from Naussany Investments and never gave a deed of trust to Naussany Investments,” Keough’s lawyer submitted in the lawsuit.

Kimberly Philbrick, the notary is listed on Nassauny’s documents, indicated that she never met Lisa Marie Presley nor notarised any documents for her, the court filing said.

Graceland opened as a museum and tourist attraction in 1982 as a tribute to Elvis, five years after the King of Rock n Roll died in aged 42 in 1977.

He purchased Graceland Mansion in 1957 and lived there until his death.

It now draws hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, and a large Elvis-themed entertainment complex across the road from the museum is owned by Elvis Presley Enterprises.

US

Oregon: Woman crushed by grand piano shows ‘amazing spirit’ after being told she will never walk again

Published

1 day ago

May 22, 2024

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Oregon: Woman crushed by grand piano shows 'amazing spirit' after being told she will never walk again

A woman has been left unable to walk after a piano slipped and dropped on her while she was helping a friend move the instrument.

Danielle Drummond, 28, who had recently relocated from Cleveland, Ohio, to Oregon for a fresh start, is now hoping for a scientific breakthrough after the ordeal left her needing both a wheelchair and a carer.

She told Cleveland-based broadcaster 19 News she had tried to stabilise the piano when offering to help last month, but her friend lost her grip.

“She dropped like a whole upright grand piano on me, and it severed my spinal cord,” Ms Drummond said.

“Now, I’m paralysed from the waist down.”

Ms Drummond has no family in Eugene, the city in Oregon where she lives, and also needs to find a permanent home, having been living in a van with her dog, Lotus.

Compounding her problems, she does not know how she would begin to move back to her family in Cleveland and transfer all her belongings and medical equipment.

Her sister has set up a fundraising page to “support future medical needs”, with the aim of raising $10,000 (£7,850).

“Our family thanks you for all your support, consideration, thoughts, love and prayers,” her sister Rosie Hayne wrote, describing Ms Drummond as “strong”, “wise”, and “down to earth”.

In an update on the GoFundMe page, Ms Hayne added: “She wants to make it clear that she is not expecting to ever walk again.

“She has accepted the reality of her situation. But she has an amazing spirit and an overall positive outlook, focusing on what she can do.”

Ms Drummond told 19 News she hopes people going through similar circumstances “don’t give up”.