O’Connor rises above the ‘energy vampires’

JACK O’CONNOR doesn’t have an All-Ireland medal but he’s turned player judgment and preparation into an art form.

In a county where the credibility to stand in the street and yap about football is determined by how many All-Ireland medals you’ve won, O’Connor has won universal respect in Kerry the hard way. The Qualifier route to the Hall of Fame.

Ask his selector Ger O’Keeffe. The Austin Stacks defender was once told to pipe down in a debate in Harty’s pub in Tralee because he’d “only four All-Irelands”.