Australian mountain Jordan Mailata is one of the few people in the world to play both American football and rugby league at an exceptionally high level and now he has revealed which sport is the tougher of the two.
The 26-year-old from Sydney caught the eye of scouts from the Bulldogs NRL side and joined their under-18 program in 2014.
After a health scare took him out of the game for more than 18 months, he eventually played for South Sydney’s under-20 and reserve sides before his size of 203cm and 142kg made him unfit to play the sport at the highest level . .
He was part of the NFL’s International Pathways Program and did so well on the gridiron that he signed an $88 million contract with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2022 after excelling as their left tackle on the offensive line – one of the most important and most difficult positions to play in. the sport.
Mailata signed an $88 million contract with the Philadelphia Eagles after surprising fans and pundits with how well he picked up American football after code-switching
Although his hulking frame makes him ideally suited to play in one of the NFL’s toughest positions, this has prevented him from reaching the top levels of rugby league in Australia, even though he has excelled in the sport (pictured)
As to which game is the harder of the two, he makes it sound like it’s not even close, despite rugby league’s reputation as one of the roughest and most unforgiving contact sports in the world.
“If you play an (offensive) line and a (defensive) line, it’s harder than rugby because the pads don’t do anything,” he told the New Heights podcast of his Kansas City teammate Jason Kelce and his star brother Travis Chiefs. , who is currently dating Taylor Swift.
‘When people say, “Are you wearing sanitary towels? You’re a bunch of p***ies,” (I say), what?
“The bloody pad that’s on your chest is so thin, and you’re sticking a damn helmet to the sternum.
“That hurts, dude.”
The NRL is rightly regarded as one of the toughest contact sports leagues in the world, but Mailata (pictured left, playing against the Dallas Cowboys) says the battle in the trenches of the NFL is tougher.
The Sydneysider was originally picked up by the NRL Bulldogs before making the move to Russell Crowe’s South Sydney Rabbitohs
The Eagles played in the Super Bowl last year and lost to the Chiefs – and Mailata is still angry about a phone call he received from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese just before the biggest game of the year.
“This is the guy who called me the night before the Super Bowl and said, ‘Oh, I just want to congratulate you, I wish you all the best,'” he recalls.
“The next morning, when I get up, it’s all over Instagram and Facebook, like the bastard on his end was recording.
“I thought, oh my God, that’s a great move by a politician.”
The offensive and defensive linemen in the NFL are the tallest players in the game and are easy to spot because they run straight into each other on every play, much like the forwards in a rugby league or union scrum.
The Eagles star was left unimpressed after Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (pictured) called him on the eve of the Super Bowl in February
Mailata’s position requires a rare mix of speed, agility and strength for a big man – and the strength required to play at the highest level amazed him when he first took up the sport.
Recruits are required to bench press 102kg (225 pounds) as many times as possible without rest to test their endurance, and the Australian thought he had passed with flying colors – only to quickly find out he had not.
“I think I had 20 reps for the bench press and I thought, ‘That’s pretty good,’ and they said, ‘Not for your position.’
At last year’s NFL scouting combine for college stars looking to hit the big time, the best grade an offensive lineman earned was 38 reps.
But Mailata has since picked up his game again, revealing he now bench presses dumbbells weighing 90kg each when training.
“I swear… this isn’t even a one-rep max,” Jason Kelce confirmed, meaning the Australian giant can lift that weight several times before having to stop.