Jordan Mailata made his way to America as a 20-year-old, to play a sport he had never played before. The Eagles OT is an Australian native and played professional rugby for the South Sidney Rabbitohs before transitioning to football. Mailata sat down with his teammate Jason Kelce and his brother Travis Kelce on the latest episode of the New Heights podcast and the brothers couldn’t remain calm.
On the podcast, Mailata talked about his time playing rugby, the difference between rugby and football, and even the new Eagles Christmas album. A clip from their latest recording went instantly viral for Mailata’s insane vocals. However, the Kelce brothers were just as blown away by his physique as by his vocals and wanted all the details.
On the topic of rugby being more of an endurance sport, where you have to do a lot of running, Mailata revealed that he was a whopping 310lbs during his rugby days, and was considered overweight. However, he had a low body fat percentage, which blew the Kelce brothers’ minds. Jason Kelce reflected back to the time Mailata came back after the offseason and was 380lbs and was “yelled at for being overweight.”
However, as Jason acknowledged the Australian only had 20% body fat, which was less than what Jason himself had at almost a 100lbs lighter. This revelation rendered Travis Kelce speechless as he called the offensive tackle a “specimen” and Jason called the whole thing “insane.”
Ironically, while Mailata was considered too beefy and cumbersome for rugby, he was labeled “too small” by NFL scouts when he first made it to America at almost 320lbs and 10% body fat. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, he was lacking a “gut.” The OT has an impressive structure, as he is the tallest Eagles player, standing at an impressive 6 feet 8 inches, has a 230cm frame, and keeps his weight in the 350-370 lbs range. The former rugby league player has played at a wide spectrum of weights in his career but has settled at 370 and still tries to weigh exactly that before each game.
How Does Jordan Mailata Maintain His Physique?
