The Philadelphia Eagles resorted to a fundamental, yet crucial, football tactic throughout the 2024 season to end it with a Super Bowl victory — mauling. That tush push works because their offensive line moves NFL defensive linemen like they’re pushing a car in neutral.

Left offensive tackle Jordan Mailata has excelled in his crucial role, protecting Jalen Hurts’ blindside and also clearing running lanes for the Eagles’ starting quarterback and running backs from Miles Sanders to Saquon Barkley.  Unlike the other studs on the Eagles’ offensive line, Mailata was not drafted from a major college football program. His football journey did not begin in Texas or Georgia. Mailata was scouted straight out of Australia.

This 2024 second-team All-Pro got to the NFL through the early days of the International Player Pathway program—a program that was founded in 2016 by Aden Durde and a former New York Giants star who took his own unconventional path to the NFL, Osi Umenyiora.

He was raised in London and Nigeria before moving in with his sister in Auburn, Ala. at 14 years old. Umenyiora played football for two high-school seasons, spent his college career at Troy, and went on to have an 11-year career that included two Super Bowl championships, two Pro Bowls, and was once named first-team All Pro. He knows that there are many young people like him who have never even heard of pop-warner football.

“We believe that talent is global, but opportunity is not,” Umenyiora tells BET.

The IPP program is a vehicle that the NFL uses to identify professional football talent around the globe. The NBA, MLB, and NHL don’t limit their search for talent to the United States of America. However, those leagues are looking for ready-made players. Connor McDavid, Shohei Ohtani, and Luka Dončić were expected to dominate. In many cases, the NFL is looking for bodies that have never seen the inside of a helmet and shoulder pads.

“It’s always interesting to hear how [the athletes] first come into contact with American Football,” NFL Director of International Development Patrick Young tells BET. “In some cases, it’s, sure, having watched the Super Bowl a few years ago and that’s their first exposure. In other cases there have been athletes come through the program who got their first exposure to the sport through Madden and video games.”

Mailata was a 20-year-old, 6-foot-8 rugby player in Australia when his agent at the time told him that he should go to Los Angeles and try out for the IPP program. ESPN’s Tim McManus wrote in a profile on Mailata that a future All Pro at first struggled to drink Gatorade while wearing a helmet.

International scouts go throughout the world in search of athletes that they believe can become NFL players if given the opportunity. Umenyiora is focusing on Africa. The first NFL talent-identification event was held there in 2022 in Ghana. In 2024, NFL Africa went to Nigeria. Umenyiora says that 21 prospects from 10 African countries were invited to participate. In June 2025, NFL Africa is headed to northern Africa for the first time. The talent identification and flag football events will be held in Egypt.

The NFL Africa event and an October combine in Loughborough, Leicester, England are moments for players to get noticed as either potential NFL or collegiate prospects. Teenagers are invited to play high-school football for the NFL Academy which has been competing since 2022.

“We look for a variety of things including elite size, movement skills, toughness, and the ability to retain information,” Umenyiora said. “Everything else can be taught over time.”

Some NFL Africa talent from the academy are now Division I players, including Emmanuel Okoye with Tennessee, Daniel Akinkunmi with Oklahoma, and Clinton Azubuike who recently transferred to Vanderbilt from Northern Arizona.

The adults are sent to a 10-week football bootcamp in March at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. This year 18 players participated — five specialists, and 13 non-specialists. Think of it as a cross between a football unit elementary school PE class and little league tackle practice with world-class athletes. They are learning how to play American football from the most rudimentary starting point.

At the conclusion of the 10 weeks, there is a pro day held in conjunction with the University of South Florida and every NFL team sends a representative. There is a 17th practice spot on each roster reserved specifically for international players.

Draft eligible players use that day as the takeoff point that hopefully lands them on an NFL roster in late April. The others sometimes get signed right on the spot. Young said that Australian tight end Jordan Petaia signed with the Los Angeles Chargers, Zimbabwe native defensive end TJ Maguranyanga signed with the Washington Commanders, and German kicker Lenny Kreig signed with the Atlanta Falcons. Krieg might push Younghoe Koe for the starting kicker job, as he was the only kicker who made every attempt in February’s NFL Scouting Combine.

Growing its international footprint is a top priority for the NFL. A Spain date is being added to the International Games. There have been talks in the past about adding a team overseas, but what is most important is the NFL continuing to increase the size of its talent pool. High school football participation in America has increased by a small margin the last two years. That is after a steady decline from 2015-2022, according to The Athletic.

If the rest of the world can slap pucks, drain jumpers, and hit home runs, it stands to reason that there are more Jordan Mailatas out there to play high-level American football as well.