‘There was no one better’ than John Egan

I once asked John Egan, the prince of Gaelic football corner-forwards who died on Saturday night, why he was under-rated by so many as a player.

“Who under-rated me?” he shot back, with that razor sharpness that made him such a feared and pivotal part of the most celebrated GAA team ever. Egan was 59 and the suddenness of his passing is matched by the breadth of the football memories he has left behind.

“I don’t know if he was the best forward I ever saw, but I can say there was no one better than him,” his Kerry coach, Mick O’Dwyer, writes in today’s Irish Examiner.

John Egan won six All-Ireland medals between 1975 and 1984, and won 11 Munster Championships with Kerry.

There were many regrets on the day in 1982 when Kerry were dramatically denied the mystical five-in-a-row by Offaly, but one of the most poignant was that Egan was captain for the first time that season. He made 41 Championship appearances in all, scoring 14-59.

Kerry GAA chairman Patrick O’Sullivan expressed his sorrow and that of his county on the passing of one of the county’s true heroes.

Egan is survived by his wife Mary, son John and daughter Mairín.

John Egan, the last interview