Ju Ju Schuster and Kingsley Suamataia will feature for Kansas City Chiefs, while Jordan Mailata be in for the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl final. Photo: AFP
Three players of Pasifika heritage will be in action for the two opposing teams at this weekend's Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans (Monday morning NZ Time).
Kansas City Chiefs, who are the defending champions and vying for a historic three-peat, will feature Ju Ju Smith-Schuster, originally named John John Schuster, and Kingsley Suamataia. The Philadelphia Eagles have Jordan Mailata.
The three players have Samoan links.
The two teams will clash for the second time in a Super Bowl final in three years.
The last time was in 2022, when the Chiefs beat the Eagles 38-35, has not been forgotten by the giant Mailata, who played junior National Rugby League (NRL) in Sydney, before making the switch to NFL and American football.
As his Eagles team fine tune their preparation for the final, he says the focus has been on their own game, treating the game as just another one to take on.
Mailata told the media as the Eagles prepare for their second shot at the title against the Chiefs, they are focused on what they will need to do.
"It's just the next team," he said, referring to the Chiefs.
"You gotta prepare yourself."
He said losing to the Chiefs at the 2022 final was hard to forget but he and his mates were prepared.
"I've always been next game mentality but I would be lying. It took me probably until we started playing in September 2023," he said.
"The best part of that game was being in the position to try and win it.
"This is an opportunity to get back but then again it is the next game. Can't lose focus of that, can't let your emotions get over you because it will get the better of you, because you wanting to get back.
"That's the message."
He said being back lining up for another shot at the title after two years was an extra cause of joy and excitement.
"'I'm good right now," Mailata told Seven News.
"Try my hardest not to cry."
He told the TV network he was proud to be a Pasifika player at the final event.
"It feels amazing," he said.
"It's an honour to represent the Polynesian people. It's not only do I represent the Samoan people, or the Australian people.
"I guess representatiion on one of the biggest stages in the world is a total honour."
Schuster says good to be back
Smith-Schuster, who only returned to the Chiefs this year, following a stint with the New England Patriots, said he was excited to be back.
"When I left this team, they had a great culture," Smith-Schuster said in the Los Angeles Times, "and then coming back two years later, it's the same."
Smith-Schuster is no stranger to winning a Super Bowl with Kansas City as he was the leading wide receiver on the 2022-2023 Super Bowl squad.
Now back with the Chiefs, he has settled into his role and feeling very familiar with the festivities of Super Bowl week.
"Same guys doing the same thing. Obviously, Andy Reid and [Brett] Veach have some different pieces in different spots, but it's still the same culture and same atmosphere," Smith-Schuster said told Fox News this week.
When the Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Smith-Schuster in the second round out of USC, he was just 20 years old. From being the youngest player in the league to now a 28-year-old veteran, Smith-Schuster is in awe about how quickly time has passed.
The 2025 Super Bowl is another chance to create history for him and the Chiefs.
"Ideally, during the summer is when I'm kicked back on vacation looking over the beach," he told Fox News.
"Just hanging out you know. I tell my family all the time, I'm so blessed, so thankful for the opportunity that God has blessed me with to be where I'm at today. But yeah you know I came into this league at 19, now I'm 28 and we in there. It's amazing."
The Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, will host the 2025 Super Bowl.
Kickoff: 12:30pm NZ time, Monday, 10 February.
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