The Philadelphia Eagles signed Laekin Vakalahi over the weekend, a former rugby star from Australia.
The 6'5", 318-pound 21-year-old Aussie has never played football before, but he has come close to it ... sort of.
"I never thought I'd ever play American football, the closest I ever got was playing Madden on my Xbox and I only played on a free trial so it was always the Green Bay Packers," Vakalahi told ESPN following his signing.
The Eagles have labeled Vakalahi as an offensive tackle, which only makes sense considering an athletic man that big from Australia is Jordan Mailata 2.0.
#Eagles officially sign Laekin Vakalahi, a 6'5", 318lb, 21 year old from Brisbane, Australia, who has never played a down of American football.
— Philly Dawgs (@PHLDawgs) May 3, 2024
Sounds like Stoutland University has its newest student! pic.twitter.com/HvdKkl6Xzy
Mailata, another former rugby star from down under, came to America not knowing a thing about football until he attended Jeff Stoutland University.
It took three years, but Mailata eventually earned the starting left tackle job over former first-round pick Andre Dillard. Now, he's one of the best to ever play the position.
The only big difference between Mailata and Vakalahi is how they were discovered.
Mailata was intentional while Vakalahi was by complete accident.
"It's a bit of a funny story," Vakalahi said. "My mum and my dad were in Hawaii just on a holiday, and a friend of Eagles international scout Chris Naeole walked past my dad and saw he was a big guy and he started talking to him. They had a conversation and my dad said I've got some boys, so they started talking about my younger brother Kobe. He's a big boy but he's not of age."
Valakahi has a lot to learn but tells ESPN that he has been training at Conquest Athletic Performance in Australia over the last few weeks, the same place where Baltimore Ravens' Daniel Faalele worked out.
"Being down in a three- or two-point stance, I definitely wasn't used to that. I'm still definitely working on it, I still have a long way to go but I'm slowly getting the hang of it," Valakahi said. "I love the feeling. Before starting football I just loved the idea of getting fired up and getting aggressive in the gym, lifting weights... so I think that same mentality will help me translate over to football, as well as my rugby background."
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