Viral San Francisco 49ers beat reporter Grant Cohn stopped by Zero Hanger headquarters on Thursday, ahead of Friday's historic blockbuster between the 9ers and Super Bowl favourites, the Los Angeles Rams.
Cohn has risen to notoriety in Australia for his flaming hot takes about the nation's food, drinks and football players, with Western Bulldogs skipper Marcus Bontempelli drawing his ire, and ageless Cat Patrick Dangerfield, his awe.
Cohn spoke glowingly of his experiences in Melbourne to Zero Hanger's own, Phoenix Trinidad.
"I've loved it," Cohn said, before comparing Melbourne to his native San Francisco.
"It feels just like the Bay Area to me. People from Melbourne are extremely proud of their city. It's nice to be in a town where people are really passionate about sports and passionate about their own particular culture."
In his first taste of AFL football, that being Geelong's crushing victory over Carlton in the recent elimination final, Cohn realised (and quickly) what fans have known for over a decade: Patrick Dangerfield is good at football.
"He ended up being clutch," Cohn said.
"Like he didn't do that much in the first half, but he ended up like making plays on offence and defence and scoring goals. And I guess the thing that got me the most was just how all the fans were (treating it) like a religious experience.
"Like the old man next to me was like, "That's Patrick Dangerfield. Like he's done this a lot of times." And I felt like maybe at his age, people are wondering, "Is this the last time we'll see a vintage Patrick Dangerfield performance?"
Cohn also thanked the Australian football public for gently teaching him just how good Bontempelli is at football.
"Thanks for being so polite," he said.
"I was just giving him a hard time because in America, if you're the GOAT and you lose in the playoffs, my goodness, you're gonna have a rough week," he finished, in an attempt to justify the most freezing cold of takes.
