Dónal Óg Cusack: Amateur ethos gives ‘balance’

He mightn’t always have thought it – and it might surprise some to hear a former GPA chairman say it – but Dónal Óg Cusack is thankful for the fact that GAA players remain amateurs.
Dónal Óg Cusack: Amateur ethos gives ‘balance’

Along the stage, Roy Keane had relayed stories of players basking managers’ secretaries to book holidays and generally being unable to do anything for themselves after they retired. While he might make a few modifications, Cusack contrasts that with the positive aspects of GAA players having other factors in their lives.

“Looking back on my career, I think it served me well as a person, that I had a career,” he said. “You might go out in front of 50,000 people on a Sunday but, in a lot of cases, you’re back to work on a Monday. I remember one year, after playing Tipperary in Thurles, I was in on the Monday morning and there was a meeting, someone asked where one fellas was and the answer was, ‘He’s missing, he was at the match yesterday.’

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