Every summer brings new training camp darlings and players who become favorites of fans despite having little-to-no chance to make the roster.
The Kansas City Chiefs faithful are familiar with the concept, having fallen in love with guys like Justyn Ross for years. Each training camp comes with its own lovable players, and the Chiefs' fantastic approach to roster-building has come with new members of the imaginary "darlings" group.
One player who won fans over in the 2024 summer is now apparently calling out the coaching staff to blame them for his failure.
❌🏈 "I felt I was wasting my talent in the NFL"
— BBC 5 Live Sport (@5liveSport) August 19, 2025
🇺🇸 Louis Rees-Zammit explains why his American dream came to an end#BBCRugby #NFL pic.twitter.com/0bgXj6iuHI
Former Chiefs RB/WR Louis Rees-Zammit Calls Out Coaching Staff
"I just felt like I was kind of wasting my talent out there," ex-Chiefs RB/WR Louis Rees-Zammit said to reporters. "It’s very difficult to get into the NFL if you haven’t gone through the college system. You just don’t get the same opportunities as those boys. I was getting minimal reps, and it was just something that I was fed up with when I was practicing there."
What he's saying is both understandable and goofy. Rees-Zammit, who was a Welch rugby star with immense physical potential, deserves the benefit of the doubt. That said, it's hard to view these comments in any manner outside of petulance.
Every NFL athlete deals with exactly what Rees-Zammit is describing. You aren't the only athletic star in your circle any longer, which is hard for a lot of people to understand mentally. Rees-Zammit is a physical freak but he's not overly exceptional, which seemed hard to deal with based on these comments. There was never an expectation that he'd get significant reps, which is obviously a change from his experience in the United Kingdom.
Rees-Zammit was a worthy dart throw and it didn't work out, but to blame the coaching staff for a lack of opportunity is genuinely absurd. He didn't earn the chance and it's as simple as that.
There's a fair argument to make that Rees-Zammit should've been guided more. That's not the issue here, though. If he's going to talk about the organization in this fashion, then it's obvious that the Chiefs made the right decision. For what it's worth, the Jacksonville Jaguars let him go as well, so it's not just a Kansas City problem.
Just perhaps, it's a Rees-Zammit one.