Seamus O’Shea can’t understand media’s ‘obsession’ with brother Aidan

Skipper Aidan O'Shea is on the cusp of becoming the first Mayo man in 70 years to get his hands on the Sam Maguire Cup.

Aidan O'Shea of Mayo encourages his team-mates during the All-Ireland semi-final win over Dublin. Picture: Seb Daly/Sportsfile

Former Mayo midfielder Séamus O’Shea has questioned the media’s “obsession” with little brother and county captain Aidan, saying he simply doesn’t understand it.

Skipper Aidan is on the cusp of becoming the first Mayo man in 70 years to get his hands on the Sam Maguire Cup.

Séamus, who featured in five All-Ireland finals and lined out alongside Aidan at midfield in 2013, acknowledged his sibling “didn’t have a great game” against Dublin last month when he was substituted but said he’s confident “he’ll be grand” on Sunday week against Tyrone.

Speaking at an event organised by Championship sponsors AIB, O’Shea said it is a frustration for him, however, that his brother’s performances are continuously pored over and dissected in the media, arguing that no other player receives such treatment.

“It’s not something I’ve spoken to him about, it’s probably a source of frustration for me to be honest because I feel like regardless of what happens in a game, Aidan seems to be the headline for some reason,” said Seamus, who was on Mayo’s extended panel for last December’s All-Ireland final and retired shortly after.

HE’LL BE GRAND: Ex-Mayo footballer Séamus O’Shea is confident his brother Aidan will bounce back from a below-par All-Ireland semi-final display in Sunday week’s final. Picture: Harry Murphy/Sportsfile

“I don’t know is it because it gets more clicks or does it generate more headlines or something like that, I don’t know.

“I can’t think of any other footballer where the conversation after every game is: ‘Where did Aidan play? How did he play? What will they do with him the next day?’

“There’s obviously loads of brilliant footballers around the country that will have good days and bad days, or that will play in different positions and it’s just not the same source of conversation anywhere else.

I struggle to understand why there’s this obsession with how he plays or where he plays every day we go out. He’s an important player for Mayo obviously.

“He’s been a brilliant player for us over the years. He’ll be asked to do different things, whether it’s full-forward or centre-forward or midfield or, in years gone by, he’s gone to the back line.

“But yeah, I struggle to understand the obsession with his performance every single day.”

Speaking recently on the GAA Hour podcast, former Donegal footballer Brendan Devenney said that O’Shea, standing six-foot-four and weighing in at over 15 stone, may come in for extra scrutiny because of his sheer size.

“I think in Ireland, us normal sized people have a fascination with really huge people like him...it’s almost like the big guy in the playground,” said Devenney.

“Maybe,” responded Séamus to that theory. “But like, Michael Murphy does something similar for Donegal, he kind of floats between different positions and stuff. But I’ve never heard the conversation: ‘Jaysus, where will Donegal play Michael Murphy the next day?’ If he plays at centre-forward, it’s not a problem, if he plays at full-forward, if he plays at midfield, it never seems to be a question over whether he’s doing the right thing or the wrong thing or whatever it is.

“Maybe there’s something in that (about Aidan’s size), I don’t know, it just seems to be a constant thing for some reason. Look, if we win the next day, maybe that kind of conversation will stop and people will forget about it for a while.”

Breaffy powerhouse Aidan looked hesitant and nervous during a difficult first half against Dublin in the semi-finals and was eventually hauled off in the third quarter.

“Look, from Aidan’s point of view, he got taken off, he didn’t have a great game,” said Séamus, who has another brother, Conor, on the Mayo panel. “That happens to everybody. It’s happened to all of us throughout our careers where some things...it just doesn’t go right for you on the day.

“You just have to accept that and move on. Aidan will be fine. I don’t think it’s happened to him before where he just hasn’t had a good game and got taken off. You just have to take it on the chin. In a weird way it’s, I won’t say a nice thing to happen, but it kind of focuses the mind a little bit and gives you a bit of motivation for the next day out.

Look, he’ll be grand. He’ll need to have a big performance the next day and Mayo will need to have a big performance as well.