Eagles' Breakout Superstar: 'I Just Want Super Bowls'

PHILADELPHIA - Eagles star Jordan Mailata has arguably been the best left tackle in football this season but don't expect the big man to worry about any personal accolades.

It's not about Pro Bowls or even All-Pro honors for the Australian star, it's about the Super Bowl.

"No, I don't think about it at all," Mailata said. "When I came back [from a four-week hamstring injury] Brett [Toth] was the only one who talked to me about it. And when I came back he was like, 'Dude, I'm just gutted for you?' 'I'm like why? He's like 'Oh man, thinking about All-Pro and missing four weeks, Pro Bowls and stuff.'"

Mailata eased Toth's mind perhaps with his unique upbringing in the sport from novice to star in record time.

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The former rugby player didn't grow up with the idea of reaching any personal pinnacle. His football adolescence was forged under team-first players like Jason Peters, Jason Kelce, and Lane Johnson, the latter of which is the standard for Mailata.

Mailata told Toth "You know how I am, I'm not in the business for Pro Bowls, I want Super Bowls. I really do."

"That was the only time I ever talked about it," Mailata said of his potential personal achievements. "... That was it, it's never been brought up again. I don't really think about it. I just go there and play. My only competition is Lane. That's how I see it. Try to be the best tackle on that field, and seeing Lane, every play makes me want to play harder."

Mailata's success seeps into his own world though. He admitted his wife was proud of Mailata's Pro Football Focus grade, which has reached a gaudy 94.9, tops in the NFL for any tackle and tied with injured Detroit edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson for the best grade in the entire NFL. She couldn't help but bring up the grade in a group chat.

"I try to tell my wife to f@#$in' stop looking into that stuff, but she can't help it," Mailata smiled. "'Did you see?' She will put it in our group chat."

Meanwhile, Johnson joked earlier this week that the opposition would need a gun to stop Jordan Mailata.

The mutual admiration society is spanned by the lockers of Landon Dickerson, Cam Jurgens, and Mekhi Becton in between the two. The exact makeup of the Eagles' impressive offensive line from left to right.

"He's the best tackle in the league by far," Mailata said of Johnson. "And no one can tell me otherwise. Not the [PFF] rating. I know what he puts in. I see the film, PFF doesn't know our scheme. They don't understand our scheme. If they did they'd realize how good, how truly he's number one. That's why for me, I always say that he's my competition. I don't look at Trent [Williams] film. I don't look at Penei [Sewell's] film. I look at Lane's film. I thank God every day that's what I'm chasing.

"Chasing greatness."

In a football sense, Mailata was born into greatness with Jeff Stoutland and his Hall of Fame students, something Mailata had dubbed "Jeff Stoutland University," the tag line he uses when introduced on national television broadcasts along with all the Alabamas, Notre Dames. and The Ohio State Universitys.

"I have been so lucky to have the players before me, Jason Peters, Lane Johnson. I mean, I say it every time, but it's true, because seeing how they went about business, about practice and walkthroughs, but that's just what I know," said Mailata. "So when game day comes, playing full speed, practicing full speed, it's just normal, like there's no change of speed. Sometimes the game I have to slow down."

Like most superstars, Mailata seems somewhat unaware of his status among his peers, instead focusing on the work ethic that took him this far to help finish his story.

"The next thing for me is a Super Bowl," Mailata said. "... Man, that's it. Like, I've again made plenty of money. Very thankful for that, the position that I'm in but now I'm [about] f@#$ing Super Bowls, and I still got that sour taste from 2022. I want my own. ... . At the end of the day, I'm happy with where I'm at. I'm happy with being set up financially, just being financially secure. The next goal is, All-Pros, Pro Bowls? Nah, I just want Super Bowls, man."

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