PHILADELPHIA – It was the day before the championship parade, and Jordan Mailata kicked back at his locker in the very far back on the right inside the Eagles locker room last Thursday. It had been four days since the Eagles polished off the Kansas City Chiefs in dominating fashion to win Super Bowl LIX.
The left tackle still looked depleted from the physical and emotional wear and tear of a 21-game season, empty of emotions invested in what it took to win it all. He thought the weight of it all might bring him to tears after the cameras were turned off in New Orleans during the aftermath of the 40-22 romp.
“I didn’t end up bawling out,” he said. “I just went back to my room and was like, this is crazy. It was like, ‘Oh, wow.’ I don’t know it if it was the adrenaline or what it was probably more a culmination of everything leading up to that moment. I expected a bigger, more emotional response. I just felt pride. Pride and joy more than anything. Just like, man, we did it. We did it.”
It felt particularly sweet for Mailata after the last-second, 38-35, James Bradberry-penalty-aided loss to the Chiefs just two years ago in the Big Game.
“To do it against the Chiefs was special too because it felt like we got our revenge,” he said. “When I say we, I mean me. I got my revenge because that game two years ago tore me up. We let it slip away. We should have three, but we let that slip. Just so mad.”
The next day Mailata was no longer mad. He led the million-plus crowd of parade attendees in a sing-along of “We are the Champions,” on the steps of the Art Museum.
He hadn’t begun to work out again, and wasn’t sure when he would, though he knows it won’t be too long before he starts the process of building his body back up to get ready to defend a championship.
The team will look different, no doubt. Some of his 2018 draft classmates may be moving on.
Four of the five that arrived in that Howie Roseman-run draft were key pieces in making it to the Super Bowl twice after the class arrived in the first draft after the Eagles won in it all in 2017 over the New England Patriots.
The class included tight end Dallas Goedert, who is signed through 2025, defensive back Avonte Maddox, defensive end Josh Sweat, and, of course, Mailata. Maddox and Sweat are free agents.
“It’s kind of sad because I don’t know what’s gonna happen with our class this year,” said Mailata. “We talked about it, the four of us that are still here, and just talked about how we always joked that we are the best draft class Howie’s ever had.
“It’s been special to share the locker room with those guys seven years now. Man, that’s a special group there. The guys from that draft class, Sweaty, Dall and Vonte, I mean we all just said if this is our last ride, let’s make it the best ride yet.”
They and their Eagles teammates accomplished that.
