Players running afoul of the law or finding themselves in the headlines for the wrong reasons can make for some restless summertime sleep for NFL coaches and front-office types.
So far, so good for the Philadelphia Eagles.
In fact, it has been just the opposite for some of them. Instead of trouble, love has been in the air.
Philly offensive tackle Jordan Mailata became the second Eagles player to get married during the offseason, following on the heels of teammate Landon Dickerson’s spring wedding.
𝗪𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵: #Eagles 6'8, 365 pound LT Jordan Mailata sang “Isn’t She Lovely” to his wife at his own wedding 👏❤️
Multiple #Eagles teammates were in attendance including star QB Jalen Hurts.
More here:https://t.co/pikaerSJIQ
(h/t @PHLEaglesNation) pic.twitter.com/78rmYUKJRN
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) July 3, 2023
There was also an outpouring of love and support between the Eagles’ fan base and center Jason Kelce during his third annual celebrity bartending event on June 28 that raised more than $380,000 for the Eagles Autism Foundation and Kelce’s Team 62 fundraising group.
Mailata married his girlfriend of several years, Niki Ikahihifo, in Hawaii on Saturday.
During the reception, Mailata poured his heart out, signing the Stevie Wonder classic, ‘Isn’t She Lovely?’ while his bride danced with a man who may have been her father.
Several Eagles teammates were in attendance for the wedding, including quarterback Jalen Hurts and right tackle Lane Johnson.
Ikahihifo is a lawyer who did her undergraduate work at Duke and got a master’s from New York University. Both her parents are doctors.
The two got engaged at Philadelphia’s popular Reading Terminal Market on May 21 after a four-year courtship.
There’s a good chance Dickerson was at the wedding since Mailata served as his left guard’s best man when Dickerson was married in South Carolina on March 25.
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Two years ago, Mailata was on the show, ‘Masked Singer.’ As a character called ‘Thingamabob,’ he showed off a talent not many had known he possessed, except for his teammates.
Since then, Mailata and several teammates, including Johnson and Kelce, put out a Christmas Album, on which Mailata once again showed he can block and pass protect as well as sing.
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There is a second Christmas album currently in the works, according to Johnson, who bemoaned his lack of singing chops during a recent episode on the Richerd Sherman podcast, saying “Being in a music booth and knowing you can’t sing very good is a damn awkward feeling and you just sacrificed for the team.”
First, there will be a season to play, as the Eagles look to return to the Super Bowl for a second straight season. They will try to do it now with two offensive linemen wearing wedding rings for the first time.
