Posted by 
JORDAN Mailata used to bulldoze McDonald’s joints as a construction worker in Sydney.
Now the 365lb human wrecking ball is one of the highest-paid players in his NFL position and stands on the brink of realising an unlikely Super Bowl dream.
Jordan Mailata plays a key role on the Philadelphia Eagles offence[/caption]
He left Australia when he was 20 to pursue an NFL career, and is now back in the Super Bowl[/caption]
Philadelphia Eagles star Mailata, 27, watched his first ever Super Bowl 10 years ago but had no interest in the game.
He was only tuning in for the halftime show, but uprooted from his modest Australian life to move to the US after being told he was too big to play rugby league.
And this year he signed a contract extension worth 100 million Aussie dollars in a remarkable rise.
He joined the NFL’s International Player Pathway programme in Florida, a 10-week intensive course designed to teach America’s game to hopefuls.
The Eagles took a punt on him with a seventh-round draft pick in 2018 despite him never playing a competitive game.
Mailata had to wait until 2020 to make his first NFL start as an offensive tackle and hasn’t looked back since.
He’s now a key member of their offence tasked with keeping quarterback Jalen Hurts safe and opening up running lanes for star rusher Saquon Barkley.
The 27-year-old said: “I cannot believe how far I’ve come. I can’t believe I’m still here.
“I was 20 years old when I made the decision to come here.
“I thought, if it doesn’t work out, it’s enough to just go back to my odd jobs and chasing my rugby dreams, but that’s really all it was – it sucked.
“I couldn’t have done it without my family. They were a little hesitant at first and the idea, but they came around.
“They’ve supported me and they’ve always made sure that I have somewhere to fall if everything were to fail, and that’s probably a big part of my success.”
Mailata grew up as one of five children in a Samoan family.
His mom worked 12 hours a day, six days a week while his dad held down two jobs to make ends meet.
The loving parents wake up in the middle of the night to watch his NFL games.
SUPER BOWL 59: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CHIEFS VS EAGLES
But dad Tupa’i had his 70th birthday wish granted when he was finally able to see Mailata play after tough Covid travel restrictions were lifted.
He and wife Maria made a 24-hour trip to Philadelphia to visit their son on Christmas in 2022 and hung around for an Eagles home game on New Year’s Day.
Mailata said: “I wasn’t sure it was going to happen. 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.
“My dad was in for a shock when we went grocery shopping.
“We had a handful of fans stop by and say hi – my dad was shocked.
“I was like, ‘This is the city, Dad!’ They love their teams. They know who you are without the uniform.”
Mailata suffered an agonising Super Bowl defeat two years ago in Arizona against the Kansas City Chiefs.
But what happened immediately afterwards caused him even more pain.
His dad suffered a heart attack on the plane back to Australia and was placed into a medically induced coma.
Tupa’i recovered and was able to travel to California to see his son’s wedding that summer.
Now Mailata is one win away from completing his career goal having swapped his hard hat in Sydney for an American football helmet in Philly.
