US born Collingwood player Mason Cox now Australian citizen

When the US-born Collingwood player arrived in Australia he knew little about the country or AFL, now he’s ready to spend the rest of his life here.

Collingwood player Mason Cox is officially an Australian citizen. Picture: Alex Coppel.

Collingwood star Mason Cox has spoken of his pride at becoming an Australian citizen and declared he wants to spend the rest of his life in his adopted homeland.

The Texas born Magpies star on Wednesday joined a cast of new Australians at a special citizenship ceremony at the MCG, revealing he had never heard of Melbourne before embarking on his AFL dream.

But after being welcomed into the hearts of the footy loving public, the Pies big man declared he was “quite emotional” to become an Aussie citizen eight years after arriving in the country.

“I want to spend the rest of my life here so this was one of the major parts of being able to do that,” he said.

“It’s something I hold very dear and I think for myself it was always pretty weird going out on Anzac Day and not knowing what the anthem meant or even what the anthem was.

“But there are no excuses now, I will definitely know it.”

Cox, 31, was an unknown international experiment when he was signed by the Pies in the 2015 rookie draft.

Mason with his parents Jeanette and Phil. Picture: Alex Coppel.

He was deemed bigger than Texas by the black and white faithful when he starred in the 2018 preliminary final, with chants of “U-S-A” raining out around the MCG as he helped Collingwood to the Grand Final.

But he admitted he knew little of Australia before stepping onto the MCG.

“Before coming to Australia all I knew was there was a bunch of kangaroos jumping around, there was the Sydney Harbour Bridge and y’all were the first ones to go into the new year pretty much,” he said.

“I’d never heard of Melbourne, didn’t know anything about it.

“Didn’t know what AFL was, didn’t know the trajectory life would turn.

“It’s been an amazing what I’ve been able to experience.”

Cox dodged questions about controversy courted by Collingwood teammates such as Jordan DeGoey this week.

“I’m not going to speak on that, this is not about that at all,’’ he said.

“This is about celebrating 110 people including myself getting citizenship and being part of this country.”

Mason celebrates with Melbourne’s Lord Mayor Sally Capp. Picture: Alex Coppel.

He said it was fitting to have the ceremony at the MCG, which had played such a big part in his journey.

But he would wait til after the weekend to toast his citizenship.

“We’ve got a game on Sunday so, there won’t be any drinking,’’ he said.

“No VBs unfortunately … we kind of pre-emptively celebrated over the bye weekend.”

As Midnight Oil and Cold Chisel tunes belted over the PA and newly crowned Aussie were served party pies, sausage rolls and fish and chips, Cox said the reason he decided to become an Aussie was simple.

“Opportunity,’’ he said.

His mum Jeanette pointed out Cox would be a dual citizen but said she never imagined her son would grow so tall, let alone move to the other side of the world and become an Aussie footy star.

“We’re just so proud and this is another step on his journey,” she said.

Originally published as US born Collingwood player Mason Cox now Australian citizen