But the Collingwood big man is going to shake it off after riding his remarkable journey to within one win of the AFL grand final.

Just eight Magpies had played finals prior to this month but none had a background like Cox, who had never even picked up a Sherrin a few years ago.

Much like Canadian Mike Pyke, a former rugby union international whose late conversion to AFL took him all the way to a premiership with Sydney in 2012, Cox is on the verge of achieving something special in a sport barely known in his home country.

The 211cm Texan has gone from a novelty when he debuted in 2016 to a key part of the Magpies' structure and even a big-game performer, named best-afield after booting five goals in Collingwood's Queen's Birthday win over Melbourne this year.

That hasn't stopped the critics from circling with Cox finding himself the target of vitriol from trolls on social media.

"To me, it's all a bit funny because I didn't know the sport four years ago," he says.

"If you want to hate me, hate me. I don't really care.

"It's a cool story, a unique story. I'm proud of my journey and I'm proud of where I've come from and where I'm at now."

The affable American accepts he is always likely to be a lightning rod for criticism because of his unusual background.

"I've got the stigma of being an ignorant American," Cox told reporters on Monday.

"That's alright, I'm cool with it. Criticism comes with the job and that's how it is.

"I know mental health has been a big thing for the players in the past few years and I think one of the things you can do is just shut it off. It's very easy to stay off social media if someone's going to be negative.

"It's not something I even think about, to be honest. As long as you surround yourself with good people then you'll have a good life."

Cox was influential in Saturday night's semi-final win over GWS but concedes he wasn't at his best in the Pies' qualifying-final loss to West Coast the week before.

"I'll own up to that," he said.

"I think we got beat aerially, and that's something I take pride in so it wasn't my best game coming out of Perth.

"I took it upon myself to do better in the GWS game. I think aerially we held up in the forward half and didn't allow as many marks as West Coast took, and that allowed our smalls in the forward line to get to work and get some goals."

Cox's parents are set to fly in from Texas for Friday night's preliminary final against Richmond and will stick around long enough to attend the grand final if the Magpies qualify.

Time spent on two of the game's best defenders means Cox will be well-prepared for likely attention from gun Tigers duo Alex Rance and David Astbury.

Cox split the points with GWS star Phil Davis on Saturday night but was schooled by West Coast's All-Australian Jeremy McGovern a week earlier.

"Every time you play against some of the best defenders in the league, you take something out of their book and can apply it to the next person," he said.

"You've got to beat the best to be the best."

Australian Associated Press