Super Bowl 2025: Philadelphia Eagles' Jordan Mailata completes 'greatest story in football'

The Philadelphia Eagles celebrated their Super Bowl victory, and Jordan Mailata walked into the media room deep within the Super Bowl stadium. The burly offensive lineman slowly sat down in a chair, and his teammates draped an Australian flag over him.

The Kansas City Chiefs had hoped to become the first team to win three consecutive Super Bowls in New Orleans, but in the end, Mailata made NFL history. He had played rugby league while growing up, and when he was drafted by the Eagles in 2018, he had never played a single official American football game.

Now, Mailata has participated in two Super Bowls, and this time he became the first Australian to lift the Vince Lombardi Trophy. As his mentor said, it is "the greatest story in football."

While training at the South Sydney Rabbitohs' youth academy, Mailata had to work part-time to pay for his living expenses. He worked in stage construction, demolition, and scaffolding, and also worked at a Woolworths supermarket while attending Rabbitohs training.

When asked what he learned from these experiences, Mailata said, "Those days were terrible. Waking up at 4:30 every morning, working before training, that kind of life was unbearable. The hardest part was adapting to that routine, but I think it helped me a lot in transitioning to the NFL."

Mailata played for the Rabbitohs' U20 youth team, but there were concerns about his physical condition. Subsequently, he received perhaps the best advice of his life: "Why not try a sport that better utilizes your physical advantages?"

Standing at 6 feet 8 inches (approximately 2.03 meters) tall and weighing 365 pounds (approximately 166 kilograms), Mailata ultimately chose American football and joined the NFL's International Player Pathway (IPP) program in 2018. Former rugby player Christian Scotland-Williamson also participated in the intensive training program that year.

Scotland-Williamson recalled, "For someone of his size and still raw, his agility and speed were impressive." The IPP aims to provide opportunities for players aspiring to enter the NFL, allowing them to receive crash-course training in American football and showcase their skills to NFL scouts.

The news reached Eagles executive Howie Roseman, who persuaded Philadelphia offensive line coach and run game coordinator Jeff Stoutland to cancel his golf trip and scout Mailata. "I didn't know what to expect," Stoutland told BBC Sport, "I was told he was a rugby player, so I thought 'What am I doing here?'"

"That was the greatest decision I ever made—besides marrying my wife. I put him through some drills, and suddenly, this giant body was flying between cones. I was thinking 'Oh my God,' but I didn't show it because there was another team there, and I didn't want them to see my enthusiasm for him, I wanted to downplay it. After the workout, I immediately called Howie and said 'Get me this guy.'"

A few weeks later, Scotland-Williamson and Mailata attended the 2018 draft together. He was convinced Mailata would be drafted and even bought him a new suit to make him look more presentable on television. Ultimately, the Eagles selected the then 20-year-old Mailata with the 233rd pick.

Mailata spent two seasons on the Philadelphia Eagles' practice squad, continuing to improve his abilities. "Those years were tough," Stoutland said, "But suddenly one day, his knowledge base became confident. Every year he improved."

Mailata played in his first game in 2020 and has become one of the NFL's best offensive tackles, helping the Eagles reach the Super Bowl in 2023, but ultimately losing to the Chiefs. Last year, he signed a three-year, $66 million contract extension and is an important part of the largest offensive line in Super Bowl history.

As an offensive tackle, he is responsible for blocking the opposing defensive line to protect quarterback Jalen Hurts and create rushing lanes for running back Saquon Barkley. Barkley gained enough yards in Sunday's game to set a single-season total rushing yards record (including playoffs), reaching 2,504 yards.

"Saquon always says that he can't be great without the greatness of others," Mailata said after Sunday's game, "When I heard that, I thought, 'Maybe it's me, not just Saquon, maybe a small part of it is me.'"

During primetime televised games, there is a player introduction segment, stating the university they attended. Since Mailata did not follow the traditional NFL path, he would say "Stoutland University." Stoutland believes that the 27-year-old Mailata can still get better, adding, "I don't think he has a ceiling."

"Most of the players you coach have been through high school and college games, so when they reach this level, they've already exhausted their potential. But not him." When asked if he believed how far Mailata had come, Stoutland replied, "It's the greatest story in football, I'm serious."

Aden Durde, the current defensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks, and Phoebe Schecter, a BBC Sport columnist, served as coaches for the IPP in 2018. Durde said that Mailata's success is largely due to "how he performed in all different environments," and "he's a loud, fun guy with a heart of gold."

Schecter and Scotland-Williamson (who was Mailata's best man at his 2023 wedding) remember him always singing. Since then, he has appeared on "The Masked Singer" and remains that fun-loving guy. Now he can also call himself a Super Bowl champion. "It sounds too crazy," he told BBC Sport, "I can't believe I'm here."

"The only thing I can think about is how long this journey has been and how everyone got here. Life is amazing, and my coach is hard on me. My success can only be attributed to his coaching."

As the only rugby player to date to successfully transition to the NFL, he will serve as a role model for other international players hoping to make the transition. "Go for it," he told them, "As long as you have confidence in yourself and someone believes in you, you can do anything you want to do."