Eagles’ Jordan Mailata was very best man at Landon Dickerson’s wedding

Jordan Mailata is made use of to standing subsequent to Landon Dickerson on a football field.

He was honored to stand subsequent to him off it.

When Dickerson got married to his longtime girlfriend in Greenville, South Carolina, in late March it was Mailata correct there by his side.

“Truly a wonderful moment to be a component of,” Mailata mentioned, “and I was honored to be his very best man. That is my brother.”

On the field, they kind a left side of the offensive line that is currently really fantastic and has unfathomable prospective. In 2022, they began 19 of 20 games subsequent to each and every other with Mailata at left tackle and Dickerson at left guard and 29 games subsequent to each and every other more than the final two years. That is almost 700 pounds of All-Pro prospective on the left side of the line.

Off the field, they’ve grow to be quickly close friends.

Mailata and Dickerson didn’t even meet till the Eagles drafted Dickerson with the No. 37 all round choose in the 2021 draft. Significantly less than two calendar years later, Mailata was the very best man at his wedding. And it is tough to overstate how a lot this partnership indicates to Mailata.

“It’s good quality, mate, time more than quantity,” Mailata mentioned. “It indicates a lot, man. It is difficult due to the fact for me, my family’s back dwelling in Australia. They’re about 20+ hours away and for me it was all just about discovering men and women that I can connect with right here and genuinely create my circle of trust. And Landon back in 2021, like you mentioned we haven’t identified each and every other for that lengthy, but I really feel like the man knows me like the back of his hand and I know him like the back of mine. It is just each and every time we get collectively, it is that good quality time more than quantity.”

Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni normally preaches to his players about the significance of connecting but Mailata and Dickerson have grow to be almost inseparable more than the previous two years.

Mailata and Dickerson are not the only Eagles who are exceptionally close. There are other pairs like Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown, Dallas Goedert and Avonte Maddox, and far more who have tight friendships off the field also. These bonds have created the whole group stronger and that is by design and style. Sirianni desires his group to be close due to the fact he thinks it pays off on the field.

Mailata certainly agrees.

“When you invest all the hours that you invest in this creating throughout the season throughout OTAs, throughout coaching camp, you just have no option but to kind relationships with the guys you are about,” Mailata mentioned. “When you do, you create on that and you connect and then that translates to on the field. And then when you go by means of the struggles on the field collectively, when you have to execute and win games … when you do not win games, that is when you stick collectively. And Landon and I have stuck collectively by means of the final two years collectively and it is been a blessing to have him.”

When the Eagles took a likelihood on Mailata in the seventh-round back in 2020, Mailata was nevertheless just 20 years old. He nevertheless didn’t know a lot about American football but he was a specialist, finding difficult coaching from Jeff Stoutland day-to-day, all though living thousands of miles away from absolutely everyone he cared about.

Mailata is 26 now. He’s no longer a project. He’s grown up in Philadelphia and is the cornerstone left tackle for a single of the very best organizations in the sport. He’s also engaged to be married and has produced the variety of circle he when yearned for throughout his early days in Philly.

Dickerson has grow to be a major component of Mailata’s life on and off the field. So that is why Mailata mentioned he got emotional right after delivering his very best man speech a couple months ago.

As for the speech itself?

“Dude,” Mailata mentioned just before dishing out a bit of Aussie slang. “I gave a cracker speech.”

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