Aussies blown away by Jordan Mailata photo detail after Super Bowl LIX

Jordan Mailata blew everyone away to make Australian sporting history — and now a photo has emerged that’s dropping jaws.

Jordan Mailata was born for the NFL.

The 160kg, 2.03m tall, goliath made Australian sporting history on Monday (AEDT) when he became the first Aussie to start, play and win a Super Bowl.

The 27-year-old’s colossal physique has wowed even American football commentators — and now a photo has emerged to remind Australia what a special athlete the former South Sydney Rabbitohs junior rugby league player is.

The NSW Department of Education on Monday celebrated Mailata’s achievement of becoming the first Australian to feature in two Super Bowls by sharing photos from his high school photo day.

Understandably, the sight of Mailata standing alongside Condell Park High School classmates has caused a stir.

It has not gone unnoticed that the Philadelphia Eagles offensive tackle looked like an optical illusion towering over his fellow western Sydney students in the annual grade yearbook photo.

Australian fans are also saying the same thing after seeing Mailata’s cute Year 12 portrait photo, where he looks like a player closer to the end of his career than to the start.

Jordan Mailata is nothard to spot. Credit: Facebook, NSW Department of Education.

Comments on the NSW Department of Education post said it all about the awe Mailata is being held in.

“Are we sure he’s not 21 in this photo,” one Facebook user posted.

Another wrote: “Bro is 34 married with 3 kids in that photo.”

One Facebook user wrote: “Thought he was the teacher.”

Another commented: “Wow! No school jacket fits him,” one person wrote.

Mailata is one of the NFL’s greatest success stories having gone from a hulking ball carrier for South Sydney in the under-20s to now being one of the highest-paid offensive tackles in the NFL, NCA NewsWire reports.

This is not Jordan Mailata's university graduation photo. Credit: Facebook, NSW Department of Education.

Mailata signed a long-term deal worth up to $108 million in 2021 — and he has been earning every cent of it, protecting Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts.

His deal with Philadelphia expires in 2028 and his next contract is expected to see him earn beyond the $300 million mark (across his entire career).

He has kept his feet on the ground and has never forgotten where he came from.

He even thanked his high school teachers when speaking after his team’s emphatic win over the Kansas City Chiefs.

Condell Park High School PE teacher Kieran Frappell told the ABC that Mailata’s potential was obvious from the beginning.

“I remember seeing him in year 7 and thinking, ‘This guy is going to be on the football team’,” he said, per NCA NewsWire.

Jordan Mailata graduated from Condell Park High School in Sydney's southwest. Picture: Supplied

Former principal Susie Mobayed has “beautiful memories” of Mailata, who was a sports captain at the school.

“He was a big teddy bear,” she said.

“Then we discovered his musical talent … He sang like an angel.

“How fortunate were we that the teachers here channelled his potential in terms of music and sport and worked with him.”

Students and staff at the Bankstown school took a break from their usual classroom work on Monday to watch Mailata play the big game.

The school community decorated its buildings with Eagles posters and banners.

Mailata also expressed his excitement ahead of the NFL commissioner announcing that, in 2026, the MCG would host an NFL regular season game.

“It’d mean everything to bring a game back home,” he said.

“I really want this game to grow back home, so if we can bring a game back there to generate interest and keep the growth of the game going, that’d mean a lot to me.”

Jordan Mailata towers over teammate Jake Elliott. Photo by Emilee Chinn, Getty.

The Bankstown-born star kicked off his career as a hulking ball carrier for South Sydney in the under-20s before becoming one of the highest-paid offensive tackles in the NFL.

He said the best thing about football is how accessible it is to people of all sizes.

“There are different heights and different sizes of every teammate of mine, and I think that’s what makes the sport beautiful,” Mailata said.

Jordan Mailata celebrates historic win.

After playing a starring role in the Eagles’ Super Bowl victory, Mailata celebrated with his teammates draped in an Australia/Samoa flag.

The enormity of Mailata’s achievement wasn’t lost on the broadcast team either.

“Think about all the kids back in Australia,” Dan Orlovsky said on ESPN.

“Now, you might not be gifted with the God-given ability to be six (foot), nine (inches), 350 pounds and move like that.

“But for a guy to come from that area, come over here and have the career that he has, it does give hope to a young kid that maybe says, ‘I want to be the next Jordan Mailata’.”

After embracing several of his Eagles teammates, Mailata sealed the incredible moment with a kiss from his partner Niki Ikahihifo-bender.

Orlovsky summed it up with his final comment of the broadcast: “That’s an unbelievable moment that will never go away.”

Originally published as Aussies blown away by Jordan Mailata photo detail after Super Bowl LIX