Obada, who was born in Nigeria, returned to the draft stage near the end of the seventh and final round to say: “Pittsburgh, you are now witnessing history being made.”
He then announced that with the 251st overall pick, the Philadelphia Eagles had selected Bernard, making him the second player from this year’s IPP class to be drafted.
The 21-year-old, who has been working as a personal trainer, has not yet played organised football but his potential was identified during NFL training camps in Africa.
He earned a spot on the IPP programme, where his athleticism astounded NFL scouts and thrust him into contention for a late-round pick.
“It’s a dream come true for me because I’ve worked hard for this,” Bernard said. “I’ve not played football, but I’ve gone through some drills that made me believe that I’m going to get better every day.”
Bernard is 6ft 4in and weighs 306lb (139kg), and has been earmarked as a defensive tackle.
He is said to have just 6% body fat and in pre-draft tests he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.63 seconds and had a 39-inch vertical jump – exceptional figures for a defensive player of his size.
Mailata had a similar impact on NFL scouts in 2018. The former rugby league player had also never played football, but the Eagles felt they could mould him into an NFL player.
Mailata spent two seasons developing on their practice squad before making his first start in 2020. He then helped them win the Super Bowl in 2025 and is now one of the best offensive tackles in the league.
Eagles general manager Howie Roseman was willing to take on the challenge of doing the same with Bernard.
“We wanted to take the chance on the kid,” he said. “We’ve had great success with that programme. We spent a lot of time with him, worked him out.
“For us, it was a passion project. He’s got a lot of tools in his body. [We] understand it’s going to take time. It was pretty cool. [It’s] certainly unusual with that guy.”