“I’d like to be on the sideline watching or in the stand, and drop dead, that’s the way I’d like it to happen.”
The term legend is thrown around too often and too carelessly. Not when Mick O’Dwyer is involved. Micko is a legend in Kerry, he’s a legend further afield. He’s a legend of the GAA and a legend of this country.
Gaelic football is everything to Mick O’Dwyer. It’s his life and it has been for more than 70 years. Right through his 16 year playing career. Right through his 35 year career in inter-county GAA management. Right through the 82 years he has graced this country with his presence.
From his childhood in Waterville to management stints from Laois to Clare to his native Kingdom, it’s very rare that you’d hear a bad word said about him.
That’s because his grá for the game appears so genuine and so honest. When he took over a team, he poured his heart and soul into that team and that’s why all players that played under him regard him in such high esteem.
Even when you hear this man speak about football, you just know that it’s the most important thing in the world at that time. To him, it’s the only thing in the world.
“Sure I’m stuck in the bloody thing for the last 70 odd years. I’m totally addicted to the game,” he says on the RTÉ documentary, Micko.
Micko won 11 Munster titles and 4 All-Irelands in his playing career. He won 8 All-Irelands as a manager, but his greatness shouldn’t be measured in the levels of success he has had.
It should be measured in the sheer passion he displays for our national games at every opportunity he gets. It should be measured in the great tales his former teammates and players remember him for. It should be remembered in the great memories he has created and cherished, and the great impact he has had on the game.
‘Micko’ airs on RTÉ One next Monday on his life. His whole life has revolved around this great game.
"I'm totally addicted to the game… I'll keep at it until I go into the grave"
'Micko' – Watch the new documentary on the life of the Kerry great on RTÉ One on Monday 8th January, 9.35pm pic.twitter.com/uMW55UT9mq— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) January 4, 2018
“I’ve enjoyed every moment of it.”
So have we Micko, so have we.
- RTÉ One, Monday, 8th January, 9.35pm.
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