Jordan Mailata defied parents to get a glimpse of NFL and didn’t celebrate win to reach Super Bowl

Jordan Mailata doesn’t like being told what to do. Now, in a roundabout way, that defiance is precisely what has ultimately led him to an NFL Super Bowl.

It all started when the Philadelphia Eagles offensive tackle wagged school to catch the Super Bowl on a Monday morning when he was a teenager.

While making the NRL was still the former South Sydney Rabbitoh’s driving passion, he risked the fury of parents Tupa’i and Maria to take in the NFL spectacle.

‘Yeah, skipping school (to watch), I probably shouldn’t have done that,’ he admitted.

 ‘But I didn’t understand the game, I was just watching it mostly for the halftime performances. That’s a real story.’

Mailata with his mother Maria and father Tupa’i. He defied their orders to skip school as a teenager to watch the Super Bowl

While it has been a highly successful season for the Eagles, Mailata’s parents were unlucky to travel to the US to see an uncharacteristic loss

Mailata has previously admitted a boyhood crush led him to skipping school that fateful day to watch the Super Bowl. 

‘I first heard of the Super Bowl when Beyoncé was performing her halftime show, so shout-out to Beyoncé’ 

Mailata’s incredible journey from Rabbitoh’s reject to the biggest stage of American football can not be understated.

However the 203cm, 166kg beast did not celebrate when the Eagles beat the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game to reach a date with the Kansa City Chiefs in the Super Bowl.

Instead, the Eagles reported that he: ‘went straight home, he rolled out his body to alleviate soreness, and he just relaxed and recovered’. 

Beyoncé performs during Super Bowl 50 between the Carolina Panthers and the Denver Broncos at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California in 2016

In the lead up to the 49ers match, Mailata read plenty of opinions on why the Eagles couldn’t get the job done. It made him mad.

‘I don’t like being told I can’t do something,’ Mailata said.

‘That’s probably the reason I’m here in America in the first place. I can’t help but prove people wrong.

‘I hate when people tell me I can’t do something and that’s what we heard all (last) week, ‘This is the No.1 defence in league’, and we took that as a challenge and we accepted it fully and gave it everything we have.

Mailata reacts after his Eagles defeated the San Francisco 49ers 31-7 in the NFC Championship Game at Lincoln Financial Field

The powerful offensive tackle knows the job is not done and went straight into preparation and recovery mode after the win instead of celebrating

‘I’m going to be a broken record and just say the same thing but because that’s what I’ve been doing all year.

‘I just want to do what I’ve done all season, what’s gotten me to this point.’

So while others celebrated the landmark victory over the 49ers, the Aussie immediately went to work to prepare for the big dance.

‘I’m so focused in on the game right now,’ he told media in the United States.

‘I’m going to enjoy all the experiences but the advice I received from the vets is to stay focused and locked in. Wherever our feet are, just focus there.’