After best man honor, Mailata explains relationship with Dickerson originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Jordan Mailata is used to standing next to Landon Dickerson on a football field.
He was honored to stand next to him off it.
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When Dickerson got married to his longtime girlfriend in Greenville, South Carolina, in late March it was Mailata right there by his side.
“Truly a beautiful moment to be a part of,” Mailata said, “and I was honored to be his best man. That’s my brother.”
On the field, they form a left side of the offensive line that is already very good and has unfathomable potential. In 2022, they started 19 of 20 games next to each other with Mailata at left tackle and Dickerson at left guard and 29 games next to each other over the last two years. That’s nearly 700 pounds of All-Pro potential on the left side of the line.
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Off the field, they’ve become fast friends.
Mailata and Dickerson didn’t even meet until the Eagles drafted Dickerson with the No. 37 overall pick in the 2021 draft. Less than two calendar years later, Mailata was the best man at his wedding. And it’s hard to overstate how much this relationship means to Mailata.
“It’s quality, mate, time over quantity,” Mailata said. “It means a lot, man. It’s tough because for me, my family’s back home in Australia. They’re about 20+ hours away and for me it was all just about finding people that I can connect with here and really build my circle of trust. And Landon back in 2021, like you said we haven’t known each other for that long, but I feel like the man knows me like the back of his hand and I know him like the back of mine. It’s just every time we get together, it’s that quality time over quantity.”
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni always preaches to his players about the importance of connecting but Mailata and Dickerson have become nearly inseparable over the past two years.
Mailata and Dickerson aren’t the only Eagles who are extremely close. There are other pairs like Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown, Dallas Goedert and Avonte Maddox, and more who have tight friendships off the field too. Those bonds have made the entire team stronger and that’s by design. Sirianni wants his team to be close because he thinks it pays off on the field.
Mailata definitely agrees.
“When you spend all the hours that you spend in this building during the season during OTAs, during training camp, you just have no choice but to form relationships with the guys you’re around,” Mailata said. “When you do, you build on that and you connect and then that translates to on the field. And then when you go through the struggles on the field together, when you have to execute and win games … when you don’t win games, that’s when you stick together. And Landon and I have stuck together through the last two years together and it’s been a blessing to have him.”
When the Eagles took a chance on Mailata in the seventh-round back in 2018, Mailata was still just 20 years old. He still didn’t know much about American football but he was a professional, getting tough coaching from Jeff Stoutland daily, all while living thousands of miles away from 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 one of the best organizations in the sport. He’s also engaged to be married and has created the type of circle he once yearned for during his early days in Philly.
Dickerson has become a big part of Mailata’s life on and off the field. So that’s why Mailata said he got emotional after delivering his best man speech a couple months ago.
As for the speech itself?
“Dude,” Mailata said before dishing out a bit of Aussie slang. “I gave a cracker speech.”
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