Mason Cox tells America white lies about AFL on 60 Minutes before calling NFL players ‘pansies’

Mason Cox and his Collingwood teammates have painted the AFL as four quarters of utter face-punching anarchy in an appearance on the flagship 60 Minutes TV show in the United States.

After being spotted by Collingwood scouts during a talent search in America, the Texan engineer was signed as an international rookie for the 2015 AFL season. 

Now the former college basketball player has appeared on the famed news program on Sunday night, leaving reporter Jon Wertheim shocked at how Cox and his Collingwood teammates described the sport to him.

‘The biggest difference between the NFL and the AFL? The players wear no protective gear,’ Wertheim said.

American AFL player Mason Cox used his appearance on the US version of 60 Minutes to tell his countrymen that absolutely anything goes on an Aussie Rules field  

He portrayed the AFL as a brutal blood sport where punching is allowed and injured players are just rolled off the ground 

The footage then cut to a training session where Wertheirm was interviewing Cox and teammates Jack Crisp and Tom Mitchell. 

‘You boys forget your pads?’ He asked the Magpies players.

‘No chance,’ Cox laughed.

‘No, we’re not pansies like the NFL [players].’

‘We only wear a mouthguard for the teeth, that’s about it,’ Crisp added.

‘What happens when a guy loses teeth?’ Wertheim asked.

‘Well, he’s got a big dental bill,’ Crisp laughed.

Mitchell then told the story of an unnamed player who had his teeth sprayed across the footy field.

‘I had one teammate who got all his teeth knocked out,’ he said.

‘We played a game in Perth, it was about a four-hour flight, they stuck them back in and then put his mouthguard in for the flight and he flew home with a mouthguard in to try and keep them alive.

‘But they all died on the plane.’

Cox and his Collingwood teammates embellished a few AFL yarns and left US reporter Jon Wertheim (right) shocked by how violent they made the game sound

Jack Crisp and Tom Mitchell got in on the act, with Crisp (pictured) saying mouthguards are the only protection players use  

When interviewed one-on-one, Cox painted a picture of a lawless sport.  

‘AFL is unique, it’s unlike anything in the world. I think it’s the toughest sport in the world with how much you have to run, the collisions, everything,’ Cox said.

‘There’s really no rules to it, you can tackle, you can punch people.’

‘You describe that with excitement, this anarchy – you like this?’ Wertheim asked.

‘Yeah, like it’s just a chaotic sport that no one really knows about bar Australia,’ Cox replied. 

‘What’s the most savage attack you’ve seen in an Aussie Rules football game? Wertheim asked.

‘I’ve seen I’ve seen people knock people out, punch people [when they are] not looking and knock them out cold,’ Cox replied.

‘I’ve seen people lying on the ground unconscious next to me after getting tackled and hit.

‘It’s terrible to say, but you kind of get used to it.

‘People with broken fingers, you know, broken arms, broken legs, you see all that in the game and it’s one of those things you just come to the realisation that you’re never going to come out of the game the same way you came into it.

‘Your body’s going to be different, you’re going to have aches and pains and chances are you’re going to break quite a few bones along the way.’