“You and me, we don’t even have a choice.”
Sean Cavanagh didn’t have a choice. How could he leave it like he did? How could he leave it in Croke Park in August, watching on from the sidelines as his county are condemned to a one-point defeat in the All-Ireland quarter-finals?
How could he leave it when Tyrone should’ve beaten Mayo – the same team who brought Dublin to their knees, twice? When 14 of Cavanagh’s county men simply ran out of legs when they needed the ball at the death.
That’s all that was in it, Cavanagh’s red card. And the man so used to leading that team sure as hell couldn’t walk away when his last action for Tyrone would’ve been simply looking on helplessly and left to wonder what might have been.
That’s not Sean Cavanagh.
Sean Cavanagh is a leader of men.
Sean Cavanagh charges from the front line.
Sean Cavanagh lights the way.
Sean Cavanagh is a myth-like hero.
Sean Cavanagh keeps the sponsors happy with unbelievably natural product placements.
Sean Cavanagh… does whatever is happening here.
He’s also a Tyrone man to the very core and the prospect of getting so close and feeling so far away was enough to drag him back for one more year.
He has three All-Irelands but almost a decade will have passed next September since the last time the Red Hand county had reached the top. He needs to get them back there. That’s what he does.
https://twitter.com/SeanCavanagh14/status/793441866960306176
So, on the same day that 31 counties said a collective, “thank f**k” at the news that Monaghan legend Dick Clerkin has called it a day, Sean Cavanagh revealed that he is going absolute nowhere and harshly re-balanced that relief.
https://twitter.com/SeanCavanagh14/status/793527838360084484
Couldn’t finish like that.
It smacks of Apollo Creed’s final chat with Rocky in the fourth installment of the films.
He’s planning on coming out of retirement to face off with the Russian and not even Rocky’s fears will dampen his plans one bit.
“We’re born with a killer instinct that you can’t just turn off and on like some radio,” Apollo said. “We have to be right in the middle of the action because we’re the warriors.
“Without some challenge, without some damn war to fight, then the warrior may as well be dead, Stallion.
“Stand by my side this one last time.”
One last time.
And with that, everyone outside of Tyrone breathed a sigh of frustration.
For Sean Cavanagh though, it wasn’t a choice. There’s always another challenge. Always another war. That’s what warriors do. They fight them. Sean Cavanagh fights them.
“You know me, Stallion. Always think of something else.”
There are legends and then there is Sean Cavanagh https://t.co/idrNHoeGU3
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) July 18, 2016
Tyrone footballer Cathal McCarron chats to Colm Parkinson about the gambling addiction he battled to escape. Subscribe here on iTunes.
