Jordan Mailata was the first player to dart out of the tunnel when the team hosted the New Orleans Saints on New Year's Day.
For some, the Week 17 game was another stop on the strenuous road to victory. But for Mailata – though he'd lined up at left tackle many, many times before – the first snap he played on Sunday fulfilled a long-brewing dream.
His father, Tupa'i, had just one wish for his 70th birthday, which fell weeks earlier on December 12. He hoped to finally watch his son play professional football in person.
After more than 24 hours of travel from Australia, he did just that.
Proudly donning a black No. 68 jersey with his family's Samoan name plastered across his broad shoulders, Tupa'i shouted praise toward the gridiron.
Alongside Mailata's mother, Maria; brother, Millo; and fiancé Niki Ikahihifo-Bender, Tupa'i's eyes intently tracked his 6-foot-8, 365-pound son blocking opposing defenders inside the roaring Lincoln Financial Field.
"My husband wanted to watch his son play in the stadium," said Maria, beaming. "And today, his wish has come true."
At long last, the Mailatas were at his son's workplace – where football fandom is abundant, the chants are near-deafening, and everyone knows Jordan – in uniform or not.
"Look at that guy right there!" exclaimed Millo, pointing to a fan 10 rows down from their suite, wearing a Mailata jersey.
It's Mailata's fifth year as an Eagle. When he left his home in Bankstown, Australia, on January 14, 2018, he was a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed 20-year-old kid pursuing a chance to compete at the highest level of a sport he'd never played.
Yes, Mailata had never played a down of American football before he boarded a flight to the United States. Instead, he was trained in Australian Rugby. His highlight tape featured a year of aggressive play with the South Sydney Rabbitohs rugby club, which caught the eye of Aden Durde, a former NFL International Pathway Program developmental coach, who sought him out for a workout in Los Angeles. All went well, and soon enough, Mailata was on a flight to IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, leaving all he knew behind to be shaped into an NFL-caliber lineman.
The grandeur of his opportunity was initially hard to grasp for his tight-knit family, but with their eventual blessing, Mailata bet on himself, and it paid off.
The combo of a physically gifted natural athlete with no bad habits and one of the most successful offensive line coaches in the league in Jeff Stoutland was the perfect storm. On the third day of the 2018 NFL Draft, the Eagles traded up in the 7th round to select Jordan Mailata with the 233rd pick.
The family was glued to the television when he was drafted – and they've been invested ever since.
"My dad, every day, he's up watching everything on him, from Twitter reads to whole YouTube videos," said Millo.
When the Eagles play, the Mailatas rise before the sun does in Australia. The whole family habitually sets alarms to wake up in time to watch their own play American football – their native time zone is 16 hours ahead of the Eagles' Eastern Standard Time.
"We love it. We get up at 3:30 in the morning; sometimes, that's when the games are. Right now, I know it's four or five in the morning, and our family back home is watching this right now," said Millo.
But a small screen in Bankstown doesn't compare to gameday in Philadelphia. The family wanted to see it for themselves, so they embarked on a journey to the States from Sydney, despite facing copious flight changes and cancellations around the holiday.
"I wasn't sure it was going to happen," Jordan said. "We were texting back and forth. They were saying the flight is still on, and I'm saying, 'Are you sure?' We went back and forth, but I drove over there and picked them up. It was a tear-jerker."
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