Mason Cox: Australia’s American Star

Football, Rugby, and Soccer. These three sports are very popular in different parts of the world. They all involve a different skill set, hard work, training, and passion. Many people may find themselves on a Sunday night watching a good game of American Football. In the US, people are familiar with names like Eli Manning, Tom Brady, and Tyreek Hill. But what about the rest of the world? Since American Football is culturally unique to the US, what are people in other countries cheering for, and who are they watching in the big game?

With all of these interesting sport activities in the U.S., many people might not be aware of the awesome sport that has taken over Australia, Australian Football.

Australian Football is a very aggressive sport just like American Football, except the players do not wear any protective gear, such as the shoulder pads that are worn in American Football. This sport is played with a ball that is similar to a rugby ball. In addition, instead of playing in a rectangular field, they play on a modified and very large cricket field.

Rugby and American Football are very popular in Australia. Although rugby and Australian Football use a similar ball, the sports differ in many ways. For instance Australian Football is played with one player kicking and punting the ball from one to the other. The teams score by kicking the ball through a target such as a goal post.

The Australian Football League is the American version of the NFL, and this sport is a huge hit in Australia!

This game of Australian football is very different from American Football, and the star of it is an American himself.

This man’s name is Mason Cox and he stands at 6’11. The star dominates in the AFL. Cox was originally from Texas, and you can hear his mixed accent of Australian and Southern tones as he speaks. He previously played D1 basketball at Oklahoma State University and was then recruited to Auburn Australia to try out for an AFL team.

He was a fast learner and began to pick up the sport quickly. Cox is a living example that age is just a number, and that you can do anything you put your mind to. He had to learn the sport much later than other individuals who have been playing it their whole lives. Cox began playing and debuted in 2016. This means that since then, he had only been playing the sport for a little bit more than 7 years.

He plays the position of the ruck. The ruck’s job is as quoted by DBpedia, “typically a tall and athletic player who contests at center bounces and stoppages (such as boundary throw-ins and ball-ups). The ruckman is one of the most important players on the field.” The ruckman is typically the tallest player in the field. Due to his height, it makes sense that he took this position.

Mason Cox has had a very successful season and has brought home a victory for his team, the Collingwood Football Club in the AFL finals! Unfortunately, the player got a torn retina which caused temporary blindness, but now he is thankfully able to see again.

Cox’s success as an athlete is crazy because of how quickly he was able to adapt and develop into an amazing player and the fans can’t wait to see what he does in the future. Next time you are bored and want to see a great game, go check out Australian Football!