PHOENIX – The champions of the NFL’s 2022 season will be determined when the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles meet in Super Bowl 57.
But as two evenly matched squads prepare to clash, another debate was “settled” in the days before Super Sunday: What is the tougher sport, football or rugby?
No less an authority than Eagles left tackle Jordan Mailata, who played professional rugby growing up in Australia, weighed in when asked about the sports’ fundamental distinctions.
“Everything. Physically, mentally, the playbook, learning the techniques. I think the difference between the two sports – I would say rugby is such a free-flowing sport, right? And we know how many (play) stoppages there are in a football game,” he said.
“There’s so much technique involved in (football) – it’s an absolute chess match – if you step 6 inches too far, you could ruin the play. To me, just from my experience, I really do believe that football is a lot harder than rugby.”
Mailata then broke into his signature laugh, knowing several Aussie media members surrounded him.
“But don’t come at me now,” he added. “You’ve got to give (football) a try, then we’ll talk.”
Mailata, 25, gave football a try five years ago, a decision that changed his life.
Eagles LT Jordan Mailata (68) celebrates a touchdown with TE Dallas Goedert in Philadelphia’s divisional playoff rout of the New York Giants in January.
After seeing this outsized man move about a rugby field, NFL scouts invited Mailata to participate in the league’s International Player Pathway Program, which identifies prospects outside the U.S. and Canada. He trained at Florida’s IMG Academy in 2018 while performing at various pre-draft workouts. Mailata said he felt like a “guinea pig” in what he described as a “rigorous” curriculum. He and the other international players had to bike around IMG while prospects headed for that year’s scouting combine in Indianapolis were driven about in golf carts.
“That was great motivation to…
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