When Jordan Mailata was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the seventh round of the 2018 draft, the Australian-born tackle looked like a fish out of water.
The rugby star had never played a down of football in his life. He also had never been away from his family as long as the Eagles were asking of him. That kind of change can weigh on any player, even one as talented as Mailata.
Over the course of his career, though, Mailata's journey through the NFL has gotten easier. A big part of that has been the consistent play with Eagles left guard Landon Dickerson.
Dickerson and Mailata have become one of the best offensive line duos in the league, and their friendship has kept both grounded over the years.
“Me and Landon have about 10,000 reps together,” said Mailata during OTAs. “We count our time when we first started together at practice, OTAs, about 10,000. That’s a lot of reps. You get the timing, you get the rhythm, you get the feel, and that’s very important and I think it shows on film.
"When you don’t have that synchronicity the timing’s off, the rhythm’s off, the feel’s off."
There are many examples of lifelong friendships being built on the gridiron. In many cases, those friendships came thanks to years of playing similar positions with each other.
That's what the Eagles have on the left side of the offensive line with Mailata and Dickerson. Both are the best at their position in the league. And with over 10,000 snaps together, it seems that they are just getting started.