Jordan Mailata has broken new ground for Aussies in the NFL, but the Philadelphia Eagles offensive tackle may just have another career waiting for him down the line – in show business.
Fresh from making the play-offs with the Eagles in his breakout season, Mailata appeared on season 7 of The Masked Singer US and was unmasked on Thursday (AEDT) after moonlighting as “The Thingamabob”.
During his time on the show, Mailata belted out Wanted Dead Or Alive’\ by Bon Jovi and Classic by MKTO and also performed a spine-tingling rendition of Ed Sheeran’s Perfect.
The show’s panel, comprised of Ken Jeong, Jenny McCarthy, Nicole Scherzinger and Robin Thicke, guessed that NBA legend Dennis Rodman, Aquaman star Jason Momoa and Aussie actor Liam Hemsworth could’ve been behind the Thingamabob’s mask.
But the judges were stunned when they found out the soulful voice in fact belonged to Mailata, the softly-spoken big man who went from unknown Aussie to full-blown NFL superstar this season.
Mailata’s fans wouxjmtzywld’ve been less surprised.
The Aussie has been a keen singer since his youth and has previously showcased his talents on the Eagles’ social media accounts.
A promising rugby league player who came through the NFL’s International Player Pathway program, Mailata was selected by the Eagles with a seventh round pick in the 2018 draft.
He spent the years after the draft learning the ins and outs of a game he’d never even played before arriving in America.
Mailata’s persistence has paid off in a big way. His first chance came in the first week of the 2020 season when offensive tackle Jack Driscoll picked up an injury midgame.
The Aussie was thrust into the limelight and hasn’t looked back, signing a four-year $64m extension in September last year. He entered the 2021 NFL season as the Eagles’ starting left tackle and went on to feature in the play-offs, where the Eagles were eliminated in the first week by Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
