The Washington Commanders and Philadelphia Eagles met for the third and final time of the 2024 season in the NFC Championship game. The Eagles came away with a 55-23 victory, although the score doesn’t tell you much about how that game went. It wasn’t as lopsided as the score would have you think, just like the rivalry between the two teams didn’t instill bad blood in every player.
Heated exchanges are more likely to happen in high-pressure games, as we saw with Marshon Lattimore and A.J. Brown on Sunday. But that’s not true of every player. Frankie Luvu and Jordan Mailata shared a special moment after the Eagles defeated Washington, showcasing the respectful nature of the Samoan culture.
.@jordan_mailata and @frankluvu7 representing their Samoan culture proudly
@NFLFilms | @NFLAUNZ pic.twitter.com/SCDAubiOKT
— NFL (@NFL) January 29, 2025
“Uce,” Mailata says, “keep representing our culture, brother.” The players hug and shake hands while encouraging and complimenting the other. “What a [expletive] year you had man, what a year,” Mailata told Luvu.
Mailata is the son of Samoan immigrants to Australia and maintains his New Zealand citizenship, while Luvu is a native of American Samoa. The term ‘uce’ in the Samoan culture is slang for ‘uso’ which translates to ‘brother’ or ‘mate’ in English.
Both players are in their seventh season in the NFL, Mailata as an offensive tackle and Luvu as a linebacker. This is the first year they’ve faced each other multiple times, but it’s clear their cultural bond runs far deeper than winning or losing a football game.