The SERIOUS medical condition that almost halted Super Bowl hero Jordan Mailata's sporting career before it even began Bankstown boy Jordan Mailata created history as the first Australian to play in and win an NFL Super Bowl - but a serious heart condition almost derailed his athletic career before it began.
While his hulking frame makes him ideally suited to playing one of the NFL's most difficult positions, it ruled him out of making it to the very top of rugby league in Australia, even though he excelled in the sport.
He made it into the NFL's International Pathways Program and took to gridiron so well that he signed an $88million contract with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2022 after excelling as their left tackle on the offensive line - one of the most important and difficult positions to play in the sport.
After the Super Bowl, Mailata was asked if he would follow in the footsteps of other famous Aussie sports stars and do a shoey for his fans, Mailata was blunt in response.
'If you play [offensive] line and [defensive] line it's tougher than rugby because the pads don't do s***,' he told the New Heights podcast run by his teammate Jason Kelce and his Kansas City Chiefs star brother Travis, who is currently dating Taylor Swift.
