Philadelphia Eagles tackle Jordan Mailata
Philadelphia Eagles tackle Jordan Mailata celebrates after defeat of Kansas City Chiefs in the NFL Super Bowl. Photograph: Doug Benc/AP
Eagles player completes journey from reserve-grade rugby league
Mailata plays big hand in Philadelphia’s 40-22 win over Chiefs
Jordan Mailata, the giant rugby league convert from Bankstown, spoke of his “crazy, crazy journey so far” after making history by becoming the first Australian to play in a Super Bowl victory. The offensive tackle, taking part in his second NFL championship decider, played no small part in the Philadelphia Eagles’ stunning win over the Kansas City Chiefs in this year’s showpiece game held in New Orleans.
In front of a star-studded Superdome crowd and a global audience of tens of millions, Mailata’s journey from humble beginnings in Sydney’s south-west to the pinnacle of world sport was completed, as he helped the Eagles to a one-sided 40-22 win over the Chiefs, whose hopes of securing a three-peat were dashed in spectacular fashion.
Mailata had a big impact on the game, particularly during the first half in which the Eagles raced to a 24-0 lead. The 27-year-old played a crucial part in the opening touchdown – a “tush push” play which saw star quarterback Jalen Hurts squeeze under a mass of bodies and into the end zone.
His tireless work in the offensive line also allowed Hurts plenty of time to stamp his authority on the game, either throwing downfield or making breaks forward himself when necessary. Mailata comes in at 2.03m tall and tips the scales at 166kg, and proved an imposing presence.
“You have got to want to be more physical,” Mailata told Fox Sports NFL. “That was a great defence we were going up against so we knew we had to answer that call. And that ain’t easy, you have to have the want to.”
The game turned into a rout as the Eagles cantered to their second Super Bowl in a decade and Mailata secured his first ring at the second attempt – after the disappointment of the 2021 decider which the Eagles lost to the Chiefs.
“It’s a completely new team, that’s the beauty about it, the culture that we built early on,” Mailata said. “We left that baggage of ‘22 because we didn’t want to bring that to the new season.”
Mailata’s performance in the game was lauded, and former Detroit Lions quarterback and ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky said the Australian’s influence would be felt beyond the field of play.
“Think about all the kids back in Australia,” he said. “Now, you might not be gifted with the god-given ability to be 6ft 9in, 350lbs and move like that, but for a guy to come from [Australia], come over here and have the career he has, it does give hope to a young kid that maybe says ‘I want to be the next Jordan Mailata’.”
There were delirious celebrations at full-time in New Orleans, scenes few would have imagined possible when, in 2017, Mailata chose to turn his back on rugby league, having been told he lacked the requisite fitness and conditioning to make it at the NRL’s South Sydney Rabbitohs. He rejected a contract worth $5,000 with the North Sydney Bears, Souths’ reserve grade team at the time, and turned to his focus to American football.
The former labourer with the voice of an angel was invited to the NFL’s International Player Pathway Program and, despite his minimal knowledge of the game initially, he showed enough potential there and in rugby league highlight reels to convince the Eagles to select him with the 233rd pick in the seventh round of the 2018 NFL Draft.
After a slow start, he eventually blossomed and Mailata has not looked back since. In 2021, he signed a four-year, US$64m contract, before helping his team to the Super Bowl the same year, and in 2024 he put pen to paper on a US$66m extension to keep him with the Eagles until 2028 and make him one of the NFL’s highest-paid offensive tackles.
Three other Australians have appeared in a Super Bowl – Ben Graham for Arizona in 2009, San Francisco’s Mitch Wishnowsky a year later and Arryn Siposs, Mailata’s teammate in the 2022 decider.
Mailata is not the first Australian to own a Super Bowl ring – Queenslander Jesse Williams picked up one with the Seattle Seahawks in 2013 but, having been sidelined all that season through injury, he did not take to the field in his side’s 43-8 hammering of the Denver Broncos.
