You just play the game.
The Ó Sé clan is a different breed.
Senan Connell told a cracking tale on the SportsJOE GAA Hour podcast during the summer about the unique type of sledging you’d get from the Kerry lads. You’d be down for a league game on a Saturday night in Killarney and Tomás Ó Sé would go whizzing by you, simultaneously asking, “Are yous down for the night?”
It’s a different way to put you off your game anyway but Marc Ó Sé didn’t need any of that.
The Gaeltacht veteran called time on his inter-county career during the week and he spoke with Colm Parkinson on The GAA Hour about who influenced him most.
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As a player, Seamus Moynihan was his hero. As a mentor, there was no overlooking Páidí Ó Sé. He’s the man who taught him how to play football the honourable way. The Kerry way.
That’s why Marc Ó Sé is so respected by his peers. He never gave them any shit, no dirty tactics or hateful talk. He just beat them at football.
“That was something we learned from our Uncle Páidí growing up; he was very much of the opinion that you don’t talk to your opponent, you just play the game,” the five-time All-Ireland champion said.
“We very much were taught that talking to your opponent was seen as a weakness. Other people see that as a strength but, you know, different strokes for different folks. I’m sure if you ask the like of Ryan McMenamin or Philly McMahon, they’ll tell you that’s what gets them going for a game.
“Everyone to their own. That was just something I never did. The biggest thrill for me as a defender was trying to beat an opponent without actually fouling them. You see the like of Mike McCarthy, Seamus Moynihan and even going back to the golden years with the likes of John O’Keefe, that’s the way he played his game as well.”
“We've had some great battles over the years. He's won more of them than me…” https://t.co/FGGoP25GHv #GAA
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) October 12, 2016
It’s easy to be inspired though when you’re growing up in the Kingdom and Marc Ó Sé had an idol on the same panel as him.
“When I started off, I wanted to play like Seamus Moynihan. Seamus was a hero to me and watching him play in the 2000 All-Ireland then getting trials with Kerry and being in the panel in 2001, I just watched this guy closely and monitored him and the way he played. I just tried to be like Seamus in how I played,” the defender said.
“I think every footballer growing up has a player they model themselves on. I’m not for a second trying to say I was as good as Seamus Moynihan but he was one of the players that I looked at and tried to be as good as.”
Listen to the full interview with Colm Parkinson below. Subscribe on iTunes.
