Jordan Mailata thought he would just be singing as part of the entertainment President Joe Biden had arranged for his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, at a surprise holiday party at the White House last week.
Instead, the Philadelphia Eagles left tackle had a 45-minute audience with the president and First Lady. Dr. Jill Biden is a huge fan of the Eagles, having attended high school in the Philly suburbs at Upper Moreland High.
“That was probably the surreal part of it,” said the Philadelphia Eagles’ left tackle, who was raised in Australia. “I thought it was going to be like ‘Oh, hi.’ We spoke for a little bit. And then he took us to the Oval Office.
“He’s like, randomly, you guys ever been to the Oval Office? I said Mr. President it’s my first time here. I don’t know how I even got in here. He escorted us with I don’t know how many Secret Service people there were, it seemed like there were 100 in there, but he escorted us to the Oval Office.”
Mailata performed “This Christmas” from the team’s recently released “A Philly Special Christmas.” He did so without Patti LaBelle, who sang on the album, but with his band and right tackle Lane Johnson and former Eagles linebacker Connor Barwin, who is now the Eagles’ director of player development.
Mailata could star in a sequel to the timeless holiday classic, ‘It’s a Wonderful Life,' if he wanted.
A rugby player who never played a down of football until moving to the U.S. to get ready for the 2018 draft, when the Eagles took a flyer on him in the seventh round, and a person who could easily have a music career, Mailata has indeed had a wonderful life.
“If you had told me a couple years ago that I’d even be a starter in the NFL, I’d probably laugh in your face, but if you told me that I was going to be singing in the White House and then have an opportunity to spend time with the President of the USA and the First Lady I’d probably just walk away from you,” he said.
“What a surreal opportunity.”
Mailata played in last year’s Super Bowl, the biggest stage the NFL has to offer. He was nervous then, but the gig in front of the leader of the free world?
“I was (bleeping) nervous,” he said.
Mailata considered whether he should attend after receiving the invitation because the Eagles had been mired in a three-game losing streak.
Then he figured, why not?
“Like, it’s an opportunity,” he said. “President’s inviting you — or his team is — to surprise (his wife). Couldn’t pass up the opportunity.”
The Eagles snapped their three-game losing streak by beating the New York Giants on Christmas Day to get to 11-4 and will look to build on that momentum when they host the Arizona Cardinals in Week 17 on Sunday (1 p.m.).
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