‘He’s a protector’: The Blind Side’s Michael Oher on Jordan Mailata’s Super Bowl dream

For as long as Jordan Mailata can remember, his NFL journey – from rugby league reject to playing in Monday’s Super Bowl – has been linked to Michael Oher.

It started in 2009 with the release of The Blind Side, the heart-melting Sandra Bullock movie that tells the story of how Oher went from living on the streets of Memphis to getting a high school education, then college, then winning a Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens with the help of the Tuohy family.

Growing up in Bankstown in Sydney’s west, Mailata’s friends immediately drew comparisons and started calling him “Big Mike” at school.

Like Oher, Mailata didn’t like the name but, when he was making his very tentative steps in the NFL’s international pathways program in 2017, Oher was his strongest reference point to a sport of which he knew little.

When his coaches asked which position he wanted to play, Mailata spat out the role Oher made famous: left tackle, whose job is to protect the blind side of the quarterback.

Speaking from Nashville in the US, Oher tells the Herald and The Age he has followed Mailata’s story since the Philadelphia Eagles drafted him in 2018.

“From what I’ve seen on the field, I can say that Jordan’s a protector,” Oher says. “He really watches out for his quarterback, Jalen Hurts. He’s a phenomenal player, which most likely is thanks to his background in rugby and his determination to never quit.”

‘That’s what the story is for. To give people hope that you can come from the slums … or wherever and that you can still prevail’

Michael Oher

Mailata’s story is different but, after his family moved to Sydney from Samoa, there was certainly a struggle. He has a close relationship with his family, who will attend Super Bowl LVII at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, yet he has drawn comparisons with Oher’s story.

“That’s what the story is for,” Oher says. “To give hope to people who don’t believe they have a regular spot to fit into within society. To give people hope that you can come from the slums, the projects, or wherever and that you can still prevail beyond all doubt and negativity and be successful. You just have to put your head down and get to work on what really matters and silence the distractions around you. From what I’ve heard, that is exactly what Jordan did. Basically, he chose to silence all the doubters who said he was too big to move skilfully on the field.”

If the Eagles are to beat Kansas City, Mailata will need to play the game of his life. Left tackle is one of the most important roles on the field, a crucial part of the offensive line. The job is to stop defenders intent on getting to either the quarterback or running back behind the line of scrimmage.

“As a tackle,” Oher says, “there are times when Jordan may be an island out on the end of the line. He has to be ready to protect both the inside and out.”

Mailata shut down San Francisco’s star defender Nick Bosa in the NFC championship match and will have to do a similar job against the Chiefs, whose Chris Jones is a one-man wrecking ball that terrorised Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow in the corresponding AFC match.

A pointer to Mailata’s importance can be found in the office of Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni. It’s from a loss against the New York Giants in 2021.

“Jordan Mailata has his hand on Jalen’s back,” Sirianni has said. “Jalen has his hands on his knees. He’s looking down. Jordan has his hand on his back. I thought what an unbelievable picture of teammates being there for each other in a time of a very tough spot.”

Standing at 203cm and 165 kilograms, Mailata is a giant — but a giant considered too big for rugby league. When he first arrived at the Eagles he was told the first thing he needed was a “gut” because he needed the body mass to stop defenders getting to the quarterback.

But the role is much more nuanced than it seems. As Mailata’s fellow lineman Lane Johnson explains: “We’re a different breed of athlete. This is the one job when you’re not carrying the ball, you’re not scoring any points, your job is to serve.”

This week, Mailata has been continually asked by US reporters about which skills he’s brought from “rugby” to American football.

“There’s nothing that transfers over,” he said on Wednesday. “Definitely not pass blocking. Run blocking requires a lot of technique. It may look easy on TV but it’s not. You have to move someone who is 300 pounds from point A to point B. People say, ‘It’s got to be like playing rugby, right?’ I say, ‘Nah man. This is so much harder.’ There’s so much technique involved in this sport — it’s an absolute chess match. If you step six inches too far, you can ruin the play. I really do believe football is a lot harder than rugby.”

The role of left tackle evolved as defenders evolved, but its importance came into sharper focus because of New York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor, who perfected the art of destroying quarterbacks on their blindside in the 1980s and ’90s.

“Today they bring in five, sometimes six, different pass rushers,” Oher explains. “This requires you to track down the moves and behaviours of the plays these guys make. For example, on passing downs, when you may have a tight end next to you, you have to study what kind of moves they’ll make when it’s third-and-long. There are many situations you have to study, but the standard is that most pass rushers have two to three moves max that they perform during the play.”

Oher says there are four pillars of offensive lineman play: winning the set; knowing the moves of the pash rushers from studying hours of film; knowing what he is going to counter with; and knowing where his quarterback is positioned.

“The most important part of playing the position of tackle in the NFL, regardless of if it is left or right tackle, is you want to win the pass set,” he says. “This means that you want to be the first person off the ball. In regards to Jordan, he and Lane Johnson have tremendous ‘get off’. That’s what we call it in the league. If you’re behind the defensive end and you’re late of the ball, you can consider yourself done. These athletes in the NFL are exceptional and there is no give in your performance when you’re out there on the field with them.”

The dirty secret of the offensive line is that they break the rules on almost play, constantly trying to lever their hand into the armpits of defenders, getting a grip under their padding. Under NFL rules, blockers cannot latch onto opponents lest they will receive a “holding penalty”.

“I don’t want to sell out any offensive lineman, but I think holding goes on every single play,” Tennessee Titans lineman Taylor Lewan has said. “It’s a matter of where your hands are at. It’s truly an art. You get your hand inside that chest area, you should never get called for a hold.”

For Oher, the most critical job for the left tackle is knowing his quarterback’s “launch point” — the time and place the pass will be thrown.

“This is where the specialty of tackle comes into play,” he says. “For the Eagles, I think Jalen does a good job of not dropping back to ten or eleven yards. If he does, he steps right back into the pocket and allows his O-line to defend him so that he can make the play. That is something you want to see as an offensive tackle. It lets you do your job of protecting the QB.”

Mailata doesn’t judge his performance by the scoreboard but the cleanliness of Hurts’ jumper in the huddle. “My job is for me to be dirty and him to stay clean,” he says.

It’s a partnership based on respect and protection.

“If a quarterback understands anything about the complexities of what his left tackle does for him, then he should be spending good time with him taking him out for a nice steak dinner a couple times a month,” Oher says. “Perhaps if the Eagles pull this win off on Sunday, Jalen will do just that for Jordan.”

Among the maelstrom of countless interviews this week, Mailata let slip that he has only started to enjoy the NFL in the past two years. Before that, he was constantly asking himself, “What am I doing with my life?”

By his own admission, Oher struggled after football. The Blind Side is Hollywood’s version of his story, but his soon-to-be-released book will tell the true story of his life.

“After my exit from the NFL, I had to battle quite a lot,” he says. “After I faced those walls that I had through the NFL and in my retirement, I had this restlessness to do something meaningful and lasting. If I was going to leave a legacy behind, it wouldn’t just be about the blind side or my Super Bowl win. It was going to be about providing the same opportunities I had in life to that next generation. That is why I founded the Oher Foundation.

“As much as I am passionate about football as both a game and a career, it doesn’t top my passion for education and how it offers the best pathway for so many others to realise their own potential and success. Hopefully, in the future, we may see more stories like Jordan’s both on and off the field because of the choices made by that next generation.

“For now, I am eager to see what Jordan does on the field in Super Bowl LVII.”

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