Landing at Philadelphia Eagles a 'godsend' for new Australian recruit Jordan Mailata

Australian recruit Jordan Mailata believes there was no better place for him to start his NFL career than with Super Bowl champions, the Philadelphia Eagles.

Drafted in the seventh round, Mailata was introduced to American football in January and has so far made remarkable progress, securing a spot on the 53-man active roster after the Eagles cut 34 players on Sunday.

"Honestly I think it's a godsend [landing here]. I'm so lucky to be here at the club that I'm at, it's crazy," Mailata said.

"I've had the best coaching I've ever had in my life, the coaches here at the Eagles are the best coaches. Just the way they coach me; moulding me, not just as an athlete, but as a person."

The Eagles are expected to take a cautious approach when introducing Mailata to the action this season and while plenty of pundits are shocked by his rapid rise, the 21-year-old former rugby league player never doubted his own ability.

"Honestly I'm not surprised [by my rise] because I see how hard people train for this sport," Mailata said. "Now that I'm in the team I can appreciate how much effort and how much hard work it takes to create a player; from the coaching, and putting in the hard yards to get better.

"I can appreciate how much work I've put into it already, but I'm not settling there. I'm still taking baby steps because I know how much hard work I still need to give to my coach and to my team."

After he was labelled too big to play rugby league in Australia, Mailata's agent created a highlight reel of the human wrecking ball making crunching tackles and punching through the defence in Australia's Under 20 National Rugby League competition. The reel was meant to draw attention from the rugby universe, instead it saw the Western Sydney boy flown over to the United States to take part in the NFL International Pro Day in Tampa Bay, Florida.

Despite moving across the world to take on a sport he'd never played before this year, Mailata said he feels anything but out of place. Even when surrounded by some of the sport's best.

"To be honest I've not had a moment where I've sat here thinking 'what am I doing here? I've made a mistake', I've never regretted my decision coming here," Mailata said.

"Every day I've just been trying to get that one percent better. It just makes you appreciate everything that you go through each day and that's what's made me love the sport. I'm very fortunate to have these people around me, the coaches and the teammates as well."

Following the success of several Australian NFL imports, the league will host its first International Combine on the Gold Coast next month as they look to create a pathway for Australian athletes and potentially find the next 'Jordan Mailata'.

"Listen, I'm just going to say this: I'm one of a kind," Mailata joked. "I'm the goofiest guy you'll ever meet. If you can find another six-foot-eight, 350-pound guy who's goofy like me, let me know because I'd like to meet him. But I don't think people should be looking to become the next 'Jordan Mailata', they should be looking to make their own name."