Source : PERTHNOW NEWS
An eccentric NFL reporter has found a new legion of fans in Australia, documenting his travels and food “quests” Down Under ahead of the historic encounter between the LA Rams and San Franciso 49ers set to take place at the MCG on Friday.
Grant Cohn arrived just hours before Friday’s Geelong vs Carlton elimination final, and despite knowing almost nothing about AFL, attended the game and even shared his own thoughts about star players.
“We just got a vintage Patrick Dangerfield performance. Five goals, countless disposals — I don’t know what disposals are but once he took over there was nothing Calrton could do,” Cohn said immediately after the game in a social media post.
Appraising fellow superstar Marcus Bontempelli’s performance on Saturday night against Adelaide, the outspoken reporter was less complimentary.
“The Western Bulldogs should trade him before the rest of the league realises how overrated he is. He wishes he were Patrick Dangerfield,” Cohn wrote in an article shared to X.
But the American’s reviews did not extend solely to sport, keen to give an opinion on almost anything he found different or strange.
Advised ahead of time that Australia’s coffee scene was top tier, the journo dipped his toe into Melbourne’s caffeinated waters with a Macchiato at a local cafe — because he’s “a quarter Italian”.
“It’s so rich and bold — the boldness is startling,” he said.
“But what’s nice about it is that cream kind of like mellows it out.”
Cohn also shared his experience trying a seafood platter at a fish and chip shop, taste-testing flake, potato scallops, calamari rings, a seafood stick, tomato sauce, and chips covered in chicken salt.
“I feel like in America sometimes calamari can be chewy — this seems like it was alive an hour ago,” he said.
“This is by far the best fish and chips I’ve ever had, the food in Australia has been phenomenal.”
The American struggled to understand why ketchup was not widely available, yet tomato sauce was the common alternative.
Cohn also felt Melbourne was a like-for-like comparison to San Francisco, though admitted he had initially struggled to deal with the direction of traffic.
Along with the sports journalist, a host of NFL players from the 49ers roster attended the Geelong game on Friday night, with some flanked by former Carton star Brendan Fevola.
Wide receiver Demarcus Robinbson offered his thoughts of the positive experience.
“It’s a little different than (American) football but the atmosphere is loud,” he said.
“I thought it was going to be like rugby but it looks a little different. It’s pretty cool actually.”
San Francisco legends Justin Prettyman and Joe Nedney were also embracing Australian culture, and tried their hand at manning a Bunnings sausage sizzle on Saturday.
Kyle Shanahan, the 49ers’ coach, offered possibly the most cliched reaction to first impression of Australia.
“I don’t see kangaroos and crocodiles everywhere. I was expecting to see that, and (Melbourne) looks like a very normal, cool city,” Shanahan said, claiming he had barely left his team’s hotel.
Star running back Christian McCaffrey added: “The people are unbelievable. The food’s incredible. The coffee’s great. The atmosphere you can already feel it, and you know, it’s just it’s been a lot of fun. So we’re super fired up we’re here.”
The Los Angeles Rams had elected not to make the early trip and will instead arrive much closer to game day.
San Francisco 49ers will take on the Los Angeles Rams at the MCG on Friday, September 11.
