Eagles' Jordan Mailata On Being a Team Captain: 'I Felt Like Crying'

The Eagles' star left tackle has developed from practice squad project to team leader.

Philadelphia Eagles offensive tackle Jordan Mailata (68) blocks against San Francisco 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa (97) at Lincoln Financial Field. / Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

PHILADELPHIA - Eagles’ star left tackle Jordan Mailata has described his life as a movie in the past. If that's the case how about some realism from Hollywood?

After all, who’s going to believe a football novice from Sydney, Australia with the voice of an angel is going to turn into one of the NFL’s best left tackles with three years of training? Add in the Masked Singer, the Gold Christmas album that adorns his locker, the endorsements, two $60 million extensions, and now team captain after six seasons.

You need to send that script back for the rewrite and put some adversity in the plot.

It actually hasn’t been easy for Mailata, it just seems like everything comes that way for the 6-foot-8, 365-pound bodyguard of Jalen Hurts, including connecting with people.

Perhaps that’s why the latest Mailata bullet point in the resume was hardly surprising.

Why wouldn’t his teammates gravitate toward the seventh-year pro?

Eagles LT Jordan Mailata / John McMullen/Eagles SI

“I just love him,” Hurts said. “He’s there for his teammates. I know there’s a picture from 2021 of him being there for me in a game in which we came up short. That’s the type of teammate he was, and after that moment, a lot of wins started to come.”

“It means everything to me, man,” Mailata said when asked about his first captain honor. “It’s a way of looking at how your teammates see you. And I’m honored to be seen like that.”

The one thing you shouldn’t expect is for anything to go to Mailata’s head, a player who somehow remains the same grounded person as when he was when struggling on the practice squad. There’s just a lot more self-confidence now.

“I’m not going to change on the field. I’m going to keep doing my thing,” Mailata said. “Just keep being me, and understand you do act like a captain because all eyes are on you. 

“So how are you going to go about your business? Are you going to ask people to do things that you haven’t done? Are you going to practice what you preach?”

The answers to those rhetorical questions should be obvious by now.

“I felt like crying. Because it really shocked me,” Mailata said of the honor. “ … [Being a captain is] a huge deal. To me, it is. ... Just gotta go out and be me.”

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