"You're kind of an asshole - people could be hating you right now."
While countless Australians grow up dreaming of playing AFL, Collingwood's Mason Cox hadn't even heard of the sport two years ago.
The 211cm American had to learn the game from scratch, but his incredible development and form at VFL level resulted in an Anzac Day debut against Essendon in front of more than 85,000 fans.
Cox, who describes the past two years as a "complete whirlwind" says he'd received an overwhelming amount of support before and after his first senior game. But as one of his siblings joked upon arrival in Australia, his rapid ascent may have left some natives jealous.
"My brother said the other day 'you're going to debut on Anzac Day, which is a dream for so many footy fans, and you've done it in two years. You're kind of an asshole - people could be hating you right now'," Cox told ESPN in the week following his impressive debut.
The former college basketballer's parents and two brothers had to make a helter-skelter dash from America to Melbourne to watch the big Magpie make his debut at the MCG.
Their arrival was supposed to be a surprise, but the club let it slip in trying to ensure there were enough tickets for the international visitors.
"It was pretty wild, getting mobbed and I remember the crowd absolutely roaring, and I was thinking 'oh my lord'." Mason Cox
While his family and friends still struggle to understand aspects of the sport, they were soon on their feet cheering as Cox kicked the first goal of the game and going a long way to proving he's far from an oversized novelty act.
He said he was reasonably calm before his debut, but it wasn't long before he knew he was involved with something special.
"I tried not to look up into the grandstands, because it's so obvious it's a big occasion," he says. "The first time I really noticed it was when I kicked that first goal - it was pretty wild, getting mobbed and I remember the crowd absolutely roaring, and I was thinking 'oh my lord'."
Cox was signed by Collingwood as an international rookie after shining at the 2014 U.S Combine. Initially unsure whether the AFL was "a legitimate sport," Cox took a leap into the unknown in signing a three-year rookie deal.
Sitting in a café next door to Collingwood's training centre this week, Cox was still coming to terms with the past two seasons.
"I remember being there [at the U.S Combine in 2014], being in the same situation [as the American athletes in Las Angeles this week], trying out in a sport I'd never heard of, and then making my debut two years later," the easy-going big man says.
"I never would have dreamed of doing anything like this. So many things I've knocked off my bucket list in the past two years - living in Australia, playing professional sport, international travel ... it's been a complete whirlwind."
As well as stunning seasoned football judges with his assured game against the Bombers, Cox's debut also created a buzz at the AFL's now annual U.S Combine.
"There was high buzz ... as USAFL officials and the combine prospects gathered at their hotel in preparation for their introduction to the AFL, and they watched the Collingwood and Essendon game live with all eyes on the debutant," AFL national and international talent manager Kevin Sheehan told afl.com.au.
"He didn't let anyone down, confirming in their eyes that anything is possible."
Sitting with Cox's family and friends at a packed MCG was St Kilda ruckman Jason Holmes, who last year became the first born-and-bred American to play a senior AFL game.
Cox and Holmes have developed a close relationship, and their success has made many locals wonder whether there will soon be an influx of American athletes in the AFL.
While Holmes told ESPN he was "100 percent certain" more U.S athletes would follow in their footsteps, Cox warned that taking such a risk wasn't for everyone.
"The athletic talent is there [in the U.S], but you need to find the right person," he says. "You have to find a person who's willing to try something new and thrive in a foreign place, leave friends and family and many may not be willing to make those sacrifices.
"You don't know anything about it [AFL] and you have to give everything up for it. It takes a very unique person to do it. It's pretty full-on."
Cox took the risk and is flourishing in a new sport in a foreign country.
He is living with his best friend from college - "I was already out here and he had a job offer in the US, [but I told him] you might as well come over for a year, try it out and stay with me" - and is utilising his mechanical engineering degree with an internship at Orora, a global packaging company.
He tries to get away from football in the office but "every single person that works there obviously follows footy," Cox laughs.
The Magpie has "made friendships that will last a lifetime," in Melbourne, with Collingwood's father-son forward Darcy Moore, ruckman Brodie Grundy and defender Jack Frost among his closest mates.
"There's just no one I don't get along with - there's so many different personalities," Cox says. "I've met some people here I'd never have imagined that kind of person would exist. I've got some crazy Aussie friends."
The 25-year-old still keeps in touch with some of his old Oklahoma State University team-mates - in the off-season just gone, he caught up with the Brooklyn Nets' Markel Brown, who organised NBA tickets for Cox - but is firmly focused on building on his promising start at Collingwood. He knows he's a long way from the finished product but the man mountain has a quiet confidence in his ability to become a regular member of the Magpies' best 22.
But as much as he just wants to be seen as any other player, Cox will always, as an American, be unique. And he could have a special celebration up his sleeve for the next time he kicks a goal.
"Being an American, everyone expected me to do some sort of crazy celebration [after kicking the first goal against Essendon]. I don't know why," he says.
"But there is one my dad wants me to do - the first time he saw an AFL game he always talked about the goal umpire signals and he told me 'you've got to mimic the goal umpires when you kick a goal' ... dad would go absolutely nuts if I did. It'd be hilarious, so hopefully I get an opportunity to do that and he'd die laughing."