NFL superstar shares his journey from NRL to American football

A rugby league convert who’s spent the last six years playing American football says the National Football League (NFL) its definitely a physically a harder game.

Lafoga Jordan Mailata plays for the Philadelphia Eagles recently appeared on the New Heights podcast, which is hosted by his Mailata's Eagles team mates Jason Kelce and Taylor Swift's boyfriend Travis Kelce.

Dispelling one of the common debates between the two sports' sets of fans, Mailata confirmed that the hits in American football were harder than in the rugby league, where he played 12 games in the NRL's under-20s competition.

“If you play O-line (offensive line) or D-line (defensive line) it’s tougher than rugby. Because the pads don’t do s***.

"The pad that goes on your chest is really thin and you’re coping a helmet to the sternum. That stuff hurts, then in three seconds, you got to do it all again … it’s a mini-car crash every 40 seconds.”

Lafoga Jordan Mailata on the New Heights podcast, which is hosted by his Mailata's teammate Jason Kelce and Kansas Chiefs' Travis Kelce. Photo/ YouTube screenshot

When the offensive line and the defensive line from both teams form in the middle of the field it can be compared to a scrum in rugby except there is no locking of the arms.

On average, men in the NFL are 6 ft 3 and weigh 130 kgs, while Samoan Mailata currently weighs around 160 kgs.

His height, weight, and quick feet got him into the American game but he says the tackling technique is also quite different from rugby league.

“My rookie year I didn’t know how to use my helmet and get into a double team and I got told ‘you got to use your helmet'. I kept moving to the side because that’s how we get taught to tackle in rugby.

“Stefen Wisniewski (teammate) hit a double team on me and he headbutted the hell out of me.

"He said: ‘That’s how you hit a double team’, it rang me a little bit but it worked. After that day, that’s all I thought about, just get my head in there.”

Mailata was born in New South Wales, Australia and played prop for the Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs under-18s and then the under-20s for the South Sydney Rabbitohs.

In 2017 he was offered $5000 to stay with the Rabbitohs to play for their reserve grade side, the North Sydney Bears, which he declined after his agent advised him to find a sport that could use his size.

He was then approached by the NFL to try out for their International Player Pathway Program in 2018 which is designed to bridge the gap between other sports and the NFL. Mailata initially signed a four-year deal worth $2.5 million, but in 2021, he signed a, four-year USD$64 million extension.

But when he agreed to take on this new sport it didn’t sit well with his parents at first.

“My parents raised us to be real hard workers and to follow something through from the start and for me when I said I was going to try something new they thought I was crazy.

"But the way I grew up is you had to get permission from your parents, so I asked my parents for permission, got shut down straight away, waited a couple of weeks, asked again, and then I got the blessing.”

Mailata who could have a career as a singer followed rugby league players such as Jarred Hayne and Valentine Holmes who were unsuccessful in making it in the NFL.

He said that American football athletes have a better chance of making it big in rugby league compared to the other way around, given league requires endurance and fitness, whereas as the NFL requires a lot more knowledge of plays.

Mailata noted his body feels sore after every American football game at only 26-years-old, something he rarely experienced as a league player.

This article was first published on Te Ao Māori News.