Mason Cox

Mason Cox was born on March 14, 1991, in Highland Village, Texas. He attended Edward S. Marcus High School, where he was part of a state championship-winning soccer team. Cox later pursued engineering at Oklahoma State University, graduating in 2014. During his university years, he joined the men’s basketball team as a walk-on, playing 24 games over three seasons from 2011 to 2014, accumulating seven points.

His athletic career took a significant turn in April 2014 when he was invited to the US International Combine for Australian rules football. Despite minimal prior knowledge of the sport, his performance led to a second combine in Australia. On May 30, 2014, Cox was signed by the Collingwood Football Club. He was selected at pick 60 in the 2015 AFL rookie draft, joining the club as an international rookie. Cox spent the 2015 season playing for Collingwood’s reserves team in the Victorian Football League (VFL), where he developed his skills and was noted for his goalkicking accuracy.

Cox made his AFL debut on April 25, 2016, in the Anzac Day match against Essendon. He scored the game’s first goal with his first kick within 80 seconds. Over his career, Cox became known for his aerial presence and ability to take contested marks. A significant milestone occurred in 2023 when he became the first American to win an AFL premiership. He played 19 games that season, including all three finals. On October 18, 2025, after 11 years and 139 games, Cox was delisted by Collingwood, concluding his career with 127 goals.