The Philadelphia Eagles are preparing for a tilt at the Super Bowl and an Aussie will be as crucial as any other player on the roster: man mountain Jordan Mailata.
The 25-year-old left tackle is preparing to take his Eagles deep into the playoffs – and hopefully even a Super Bowl victory.
And the rags-to-riches story began in the working-class Sydney suburb of Bankstown.
He is hoping to go from the harbour city’s west to playing in front of over 100 million people in this season’s Super Bowl.
After signing a monster $88million contract last season, he is no longer the project player who used to play rugby league, and it’s a journey like no other in the sport.
The nuances of playing left tackle and protecting the blind side (yes, like Michael Oher in Sandra Bullock’s famous movie) of his dynamic Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts are imperceptible to most.
He has to have the footwork of a ballerina in a phone box despite being roughly the size of a compact car.
Sounds impossible for someone who didn’t pull on a football helmet until 2018, right?
So how did Mailata go from a rugby league reject to one of the NFL’s best left tackles in such a short space of time?
Humble beginnings
Born on March 31, 1997 in Sydney, Lafoga Jordan Mailata is the son of Samoan immigrants who had moved to Bankstown, in the city’s south-west, before he arrived in the world.
Mailata lived in a bedroom with brothers Moana, Daniel and Millo, while his parents Tupa’i and Maria and sister Sese got their own rooms in a modest three-bedroom house in the working-class area.
He was given the middle name Jordan by his sister as a nod to basketball legend Michael Jordan, and goes by that name in his public life.
Academia was the priority in the Mailata household, so Jordan focused on his studies at the nearby Condell Park High School before testing his obvious athletic potential in a more serious way.
Rising rugby league star
A junior with the Bankstown Bulls, which produced current NRL stars Ryan Matterson and Daniel Tupou, the massive Mailata was quickly earmarked for higher honours.
Weighing in at 147kg despite his tender age, Mailata caught the eye of Bulldogs scouts as a prop, and joined their elite SG Ball (under-18s) program in 2014.
Then tragedy very nearly struck.
The hulking prop collapsed at preseason training just a week out from his debut, and was rushed to hospital.
Mailata was eventually diagnosed with a heart condition called Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, and had to have surgery on his heart the follow year, halting his rugby league dream for more than 18 months.
As he recovered, his already hulking 203cm frame blew out to 166kg, meaning he needed to go back to the drawing board if he was to keep playing footy.
Fortunately, his special talent and drive was still apparent.
Playing with his brothers for Five Dock in the Balmain A-grade competition, Mailata caught the eye of Rabbitohs recruiter Ben Rogers and then-club supremo Shane Richardson
The prop lost 28kg and earned himself a $5000 contract to play under-20s and reserve grade with the club.
In 2017, Mailata was told that if he wanted another $5000 contract, he’d have to lose around 15kg from his 142kg, 10 per cent body fat frame and would only be in the mix to play for the Rabbitohs reserve-grade feeder club, North Sydney.
His talent was not in question, and the behemoth prop can be seen in old highlights packages completely bulldozing both helpless opponents, but the club was concerned he couldn’t last past 10 minutes despite his standout work ethic.
Mailata refused and passed on the contract offer, though he bears no ill will towards the club.
‘That [being too big for rugby league] was a label I was given … I had to cop it on the chin and weigh up the options,’ he told the Sydney Morning Herald just after being drafted by the Eagles.
‘They [the Rabbitohs] wanted me to play second grade, and there were a lot of second-grade contracts up for grabs at different clubs. Personally, I just wanted a fulltime contract so I could develop.
‘They wanted me to lose 15 more kilos and it was impossible because I was at 10 percent body fat. That wasn’t healthy at all … But I laugh at it now,’ said Mailata.
The rest, as they say, is history.
An unlikely dream inspired by ‘The Blind Side’
So where to next?
Mailata’s manager at the time, Chris Orr, suggested they get a highlights package together to give to rugby union scouts – a sound move given the sport features almost every body weight and height.
However, the highlights somehow found their way into the hands of scouts for the NFL’s international pathways program (IPP).
American football’s popularity is booming in Australia, though it still remains somewhat of a niche sport outside of the Super Bowl.
Mailata was one of those people who knew nothing about the game outside of watching the season’s title match every February.
But the dream was almost squashed without getting off the ground after his parents voiced their concerns.
Traditionally, Samoan children only leave the family house once they are married – and Tupa’i gave his son a firm no when he asked about leaving for the IPP.
But thanks to a game of ping pong, Mailata convinced his dad that giving an NFL career a shot would be worth it – because he would not leave without their blessing.
‘Two weeks later I’m playing ping-pong with him [father Tupa’i] at night. We were playing for a straight hour, just him and I, playing three games to 21, going back and forth. And I let my old man win. He had a good time,’ he told ESPN about the night he convinced his father he should go to the USA.
‘He was like, “I’m tired, I’m going to go to bed,” so I was like, now is my time to attack.
‘He was in bed and I walk in, the lights are off and I’m like, “Dad, can I talk to you real quick. I want to talk to you about America.” And he said, ‘Oh whoa whoa whoa, go wake your mum up’.
‘That night, my old man said, “If you really want to do this, then do it. Do it for yourself, don’t do it for anyone else”,’ Mailata recalled.
When asked by IPP what position he’d like to try out for, he suggested offensive tackle, based solely on the fact he’d seen the true story of Super Bowl champion Michael Oher in the Oscar-winning movie ‘The Blind Side’, starring Sandra Bullock.
He chose well.
Philadelphia’s current offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland was immediately impressed, despite Mailata never pulling on a football helmet prior to joining the program.
While acknowledging it would take some time for him to learn the finer points of blocking and the game in general, scouts were impressed at his tremendous physique and sub-20 per cent body fat percentage, and his excellent speed and agility for his size.
After standing out at the NFL draft combine, Mailata was optimistic that a team could take a chance on him as a project player, but all he could do was wait.
And… Philadelphia took a chance!
At pick 233 overall in the 2018 NFL draft, Mailata was taken by the Eagles in the seventh round after impressing Stoutland.
It wasn’t exactly an immediate fairytale like the movie, though.
Mailata did pass his first test – and a significant one at that: making the 53-man roster. From there, though, he spent a significant chunk of the next 18 months on injured reserve after suffering a succession of serious back injuries.
He finally made his NFL debut on September 13, 2020 against Washington, after rookie Jack Driscoll went down. He then made his starting debut in week four – and never looked back.
He was a project player no more.
From week 11 until his season ended with one match remaining thanks to concussion, Mailata was in the league’s top 15 offensive tackles
Given his spot on the left is probably the most important position on the gridiron outside of the quarterback, it is a phenomenal accomplishment for someone who hadn’t even pulled on a football helmet just three years prior.
From there, Mailata was named as the Eagles starting left tackle for the 2021 season, and this is where all that hard work on injured reserve and time in the video room with a playbook began to pay off.
One of the NFL’s top analytics experts, Cynthia Frelund, named Mailata at number 10 in her underrated players list, while top rankings experts Pro Football Focus (PFF) had Mailata as the third best tackle in the league based on his 2021 season.
He was a MONSTER protecting the blind side of exciting dual-threat quarterback Jalen Hurts, and excited fans not only with his physicality, but with his typically down-to-earth, affable Aussie nature.
The $88 million dollar man
Mailata was rewarded for his sensational 2021 season quite handsomely.
After making the decision to reject South Sydney’s offer of a $5000 reserve grade contract four years prior, Mailata signed a four-year contract worth up to $88million in September.
Not a bad decision!
Unfortunately the Eagles went down to the Bucaneers in the wild card round, but 2022 has seen the side finish as the NFC’s number one seed UPDATE following a brilliant year by Hurts and the entire offensive line.
Mailata has had a slightly more rollercoaster year than 2021, with the insane amount of top edge rushers making life hard…but it could also be that he is under the microscope more than ever before now he is one of the most well-known left tackles in the league.
PFF certainly thinks that is the case.
The top rankings service still firmly believes Mailata is in the top five of any tackle on either side of the line in the entire league.
Top five out of 64 starters, essentially.
‘Mailata suffocates defensive linemen in pass protection, but he’s also magnificent in the run game, which is especially critical for a team that likes to rush as much as Philadelphia,’ the game’s most popular ranking service wrote on Christmas Eve, when they named him as the fifth-best tackle in the league; two behind teammate Lane Johnson who blocks on the right.
Incredibly, Mailata’s parents were able to see that in action for the first time just prior to playoffs, making the 16,000km journey from Australia – though unfortunately despite a huge game by the left tackle, his team saved their worst match for the visit and went done despite being huge favourites to the Saints.
Put simply, he’s a beast, and so is the rest of the line. Hurts is pretty handy, too.
Now, just a handful of big games stand between the 14-3 Philadelphia Eagles and a Super Bowl berth, with Mailata and Hurts in the thick of it alongside a stellar depth of incredible skill position players and a stout defense.
The…singer?!
Oh, one more thing.
Lafoga Jordan Mailata can sing. Not just sing, but proper SING.
The angelic voice that belies his affable Aussie demeanour and huge frame, Mailata and his offensive line teammates recently released a Christmas album – but that was more a goof than anything.
The lad can sing. Evidenced by the fact RnB superstar NeYo had him as a warm-up act this year while he performed in Philadelphia.
You read that right: a 166kg offensive lineman opening up for one of the most popular R&B singers of his generation, who has sold over 20million albums worldwide.
Videos emerged on social media of Mailata belting out delightfully smooth renditions of popular songs like ‘Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours’ and Amy Winehouse’s hit ‘Valerie’.
He also performed on The Masked Singer. There really is nothing this Aussie can’t do.
The Jordan Mailata story, it’s not a bad one.
But who will play him in the movie?
