A 203cm giant from Bankstown who was rejected from the NRL is now an NFL superstar sitting on a mammoth $108million contract, telling young athletes to 'go for it' and do anything to pursue their dreams.
Jordan Mailata started as left tackle for the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday, just four years after first learning the ins and outs of one of America's most beloved sports.
The 24-year-old, who grew up in Sydney's south-west, had been hoping for a career in the NRL but was ultimately dropped, being told he was too big and couldn't last on the field for long enough.
He was offered a spot in South Sydney's second grade feeder team for a measly $5,000.
But just as his rugby league prospects started to look bleak, Mailata's management put together a highlights video which ended up on the desks of NFL scouts.
Jordan Mailata (pictured with his partner) started for the Philadelphia Eagles this week after scoring himself a mammoth $108million contract
'All I knew about the NFL was what I'd seen in movies like Remember The Titans and The Blind Side with Sandra Bullock,' he told A Current Affair.
'When it came out everyone in Canterbury was calling me Big Mike, like the guy in that movie.'
His four-year contract with the Eagles now makes him one of Australia's richest athletes and the wealthiest Aussie in the NFL.
In the 2018 NFL draft, Mailata was selected in the seventh round by the Eagles as the 233rd overall pick following a gruelling training camp.
He'd been invited to attend the camp that year as part of the Pathways Program for foreign players.
He then spent years learning the game and training intensively, with the former Rabbitohs
