Jordan Mailata's feet are so big, he could probably fill out clown shoes.
Lucky for him the NFL is built for large men.
The Eagles' seventh-round pick and former professional rugby player is 6-foot-8, 346 pounds and has 35 1/2-inch arms. He's basically a real-life giant.
But before getting fitted for his new Nike cleats the other day, Mailata had been wearing the wrong size shoes. Or perhaps there was some sort of confusion with the conversion from Australia.
"See, I didn't know I was an 18 until I came here," Mailata said. "I thought I was a 16. I've been wearing 16s. The whole time I was wearing the wrong size, but maybe the measurement thing was off."
Just a video of Jordan Mailata trying on his size EIGHTEEN cleats. #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/7ltxM9j9cr— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) May 10, 2018
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Yes, Mailata wears size 18 shoes and he's not alone. Fellow offense lineman Matt Pryor, who was selected in the round before Mailata, also wears a size 18. (But he knew before joining the Eagles).
"I feel like I'm wearing moon boots," Mailata said.
To put the size 18 shoes into perspective, here's a look at some other big-shoe wearers in recent sports history:
Shaquille O'Neal (7-1): 22
Yao Ming (7-5): 18
LeBron James (6-8): 15
Kevin Durant (6-11): 18
So Mailata and Pryor wear the same size 18 shoes as 7-foot-5 Yao Ming, who once made NFL superstar J.J. Watt look like a small child.
Great lunch with @YaoMing today. Have a feeling he could knock down a pass or two... pic.twitter.com/1j48zpTk— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) February 12, 2013
Friday marked the first time Mailata was actually on the field for an Eagles practice - or training session, as he called it - and it's near impossible to not be shocked by his mammoth size. The shoes are nearly 14 inches, his hands are tennis rackets and his arms are tree trunks.
Has he always been this big?
"It's funny you asked me that," the 21-year-old Australian said. "Somebody reckoned that I walked out of my mom, which is quite bad to say. I was a normal kid up until I was about 5. When I turned 5, I was the tallest kid in the class but not by that much. It wasn't until I hit 13 when I started growing and by 14 I looked like a man, I was told."
He certainly looked like a grown man Friday. It's funny, though, because his size has almost made everyone forget just how big Pryor is. Pryor, the tackle out of TCU, is listed at 6-7, 332 and was the tallest Eagles player for exactly 27 minutes before they moved up in the seventh round to add Mailata.
Pryor, though, has lived in the states his whole life, so he knows the benefit of good old-fashioned American overindulgence. For Mailata, it's a revelation.
"It's been hard to find clothes, but not when you come here in the states," he said. "You guys have every size."
