By Ian Ransom
(Reuters) – Growing up in western Sydney in a big family of Polynesian immigrants, Philadelphia Eagles offensive tackle Jordan Mailata once cut school to watch the Super Bowl – but more for the half-time entertainment than the game.
On Sunday, the former rugby league player and church choirboy will perform on the NFL’s biggest stage as the man tasked with protecting quarterback Jalen Hurts against the Kansas City Chiefs.
“I didn’t understand how to play the game. I was just watching mostly for the half-time performances,” the hulking 25-year-old told reporters in Philadelphia.
“I thought about singing in (a Super Bowl), but definitely not playing in it.
“No, I’m playing with you. I never thought about being here when I was watching it.”
He and team mate Arryn Siposs, a former Australian Rules football player, will hope to become the first Australians to play in a Super Bowl and win a championship ring.
The first to win a ring was Jesse Williams as a member of the 2013 Seattle Seahawks roster but the Indigenous Australian defensive tackle never played a down that season due to injury.
Other Australians have been on the losing side in a Super Bowl.
Mitch Wishnowsky punted for the San Francisco 49ers when they were defeated by the Chiefs in 2020 while Ben Graham played for the Arizona Cardinals in 2009 when they lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
LONG GRIND
While playing in the Super Bowl will be the realisation of a childhood dream for most of their team mates, it was not on the Australian duo’s radar until a few years ago.
Both found their way into American football after sports careers that never took off back home.
Mailata, who stands 2.03m and weighs over 150kg, played with National Rugby League club South Sydney’s junior side but was unable to secure a professional contract.
A reel of his playing highlights pricked the interest of an NFL scout, however, and a successful workout led to a spot on the league’s international pathway programme.
Only a few months after walking away from rugby league and with no American football experience, Mailata was selected as a seventh round pick by the Eagles in the 2018 NFL draft.
Siposs followed a now well-beaten path to the NFL as a former Australian Rules player making the successful transition to punter.
The Melbourne man played 28 championship matches for St Kilda in the top-flight Australian Football League (AFL) across five seasons but struggled for consistency and was cut from the roster in 2015.
He morphed into a punter at Melbourne-based ProKick Australia, a programme run by former AFL player Nathan Chapman, who has helped a number of local athletes make it to the NFL.
After playing college football for Auburn University in Alabama, Siposs was drafted by Detroit in 2020 before being picked up by the Eagles the following year.
Siposs has been sidelined with an ankle injury since early-December but was reactivated by the Eagles last week and said he was preparing to play in the Super Bowl.
“It’s been a long grind over the last seven to eight weeks and I’m very fortunate to be in this position to have a shot at it and see what happens,” said the 30-year-old.
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
