Obada, who was born in Nigeria, returned to the draft stage earlier than the tip of the seventh and ultimate spherical to say: “Pittsburgh, you at the moment are witnessing historical past being made.”
He then introduced that with the 251st total choose, the Philadelphia Eagles had chosen Bernard, making him the second participant from this 12 months’s IPP class to be drafted.
The 21-year-old, who has been working as a private coach, has not but performed organised soccer however his potential was recognized throughout NFL coaching camps in Africa.
He earned a spot on the IPP programme, the place his athleticism astounded NFL scouts and thrust him into rivalry for a late-round choose.
“It is a dream come true for me as a result of I’ve labored onerous for this,” Bernard mentioned. “I’ve not performed soccer, however I’ve gone via some drills that made me imagine that I’ll get higher day-after-day.”
Bernard is 6ft 4in and weighs 306lb (139kg), and has been earmarked as a defensive sort out.
He’s mentioned to have simply 6% physique fats and in pre-draft checks he ran the 40-yard sprint in 4.63 seconds and had a 39-inch vertical bounce – distinctive figures for a defensive participant of his measurement.
Mailata had an analogous impression on NFL scouts in 2018. The previous rugby league participant had additionally by no means performed soccer, however the Eagles felt they might mould him into an NFL participant.
Mailata spent two seasons growing on their observe squad earlier than making his first begin in 2020. He then helped them win the Tremendous Bowl in 2025 and is now probably the greatest offensive tackles within the league.
Eagles normal supervisor Howie Roseman was keen to tackle the problem of doing the identical with Bernard.
“We needed to take the possibility on the child,” he mentioned. “We have had nice success with that programme. We spent a variety of time with him, labored him out.
“For us, it was a ardour venture. He is acquired a variety of instruments in his physique. [We] perceive it may take time. It was fairly cool. [It’s] definitely uncommon with that man.”
