COLUMN: Magic moments as Mayo and Erris cherishes Sam
IT'S hard to know where to start with this column. The mind has been overflowing with joy and vivid emotions since the final hooter sounded in Croke Park to signal that we had won the All-Ireland and there has been little time to sit back and make sense of it all.
I've just driven home from the celebrations in Belmullet and it was something I'll never forget. The whole day was special. I left early in order to get ahead of the Mayo team bus and that was a really enjoyable journey.
It was great to see people out on the side of the road in Ballina and Foxford and Crossmolina, ready for the team to come through, and then obviously in Bellmullet, there was a real party atmosphere.
There was a huge crowd waiting at the pitch in Tallagh and the first thing that hit me was the absolute pride I had as a Bellmullet person seeing Ryan and Seamus lift Sam Maguire onto the stage Looking around, there were so many neighbours of mine there and people I knew growing up. It was amazing to experience such an evening so close to home, it really was remarkable.
In the middle of it all, it hit home how important a player Ryan is to this Mayo team and for him to be one of our own makes it even better. He's a product, obviously, of his parents and his neighbours and the club in the wider context. He's just a remarkable football player, a remarkable leader and we're very, very lucky to have him in Belmullet and seeing him back home with Sam Maguire hit a very special spot for the region.
I was very proud of the way the Belmullet GAA Club were able to host the event. It was lovely for kids and families down there at the pitch to have the space to run around freely at the back away from the stage and then to have the event where everyone got to see the players.
It was a great evening. The players were all introduced and got their moment to lift the cup. There were a few dodgy songs and a mighty atmosphere. The team did look tired, but they still looked to be floating on a high.
The celebrations have been well deserved and it has also shown the players how important the Mayo team is in every single corner of the county. That was obvious when Jack Coyne and Andy spoke on the stage in Tallagh. They were left in no doubt about the appreciation that Mayo people have for what they have done and that will stand to them over the coming months and years ahead.
Looking back on the final itself, it's still a little early to assess it properly, because it means something different to everyone, but the outpouring of emotion has bonded everyone together.
We've watched the scenes of people watching it back in Mayo, we've seen and heard of people, or got texts from people all over the world that and how it made them feel.
I've always said in the football-related columns, when Mayo were losing All-Irelands, that Mayo would continue to come back because it's the pinnacle of sport in a sports-mad county.
We don't have a strong soccer or rugby tradition or hurling, and obviously this victory will only add to that.
As well as that, some people that mightn't go down to their local club that often, follow the Mayo football team because they can relate to the story of resilience and a never-say-die attitude.
Despite our near-obsession with winning Sam Maguire, we didn't know how important it would be to people until it actually happened. In the past few days everyone has felt something different. I know myself I felt emotional after the game. I wasn't thinking of any lost loved one.
I wasn't thinking of anyone that may have missed out on the opportunity to see this. In the minutes after the final whistle, I was just glad that Mayo had done it. Over the years a lot of slagging has been thrown our way because we hadn't won it in so long and when you overcome that there's a real sense of defiance.
On top of that, I was just so happy to see the joy and the relief and the emotion that the players and the other people in the stadium were showing and experiencing. It was really wonderful.
On a personal level, I came out of the stadium and hung around way longer than usual. I met so many people from home and so many people I knew through football in Mayo, whether I played with them or played against them.
It really was special and nothing will compare to those final ten minutes of the game when I realised Mayo were going to win the All-Ireland, and those 30 minutes after it when there was a great outpouring of joy. Being able to share it with so many family members, club mates, and the whole Erris nation around me was wonderful and something I will never forget.
Being able to welcome people from all Erris clubs, and even bumping into Achill folk was a proud moment for Belmullet.
FROM a football point of view, we'll now have to adapt to a new reality moving in terms of how we're perceived outside of the county and it will be important internally in terms of how we react to it. Maybe that's a discussion for another day or maybe not.
To date, we've experienced the good graces of many neutral supporters throughout the county. If people perceive us to be insufferable, we shall approach that as it comes. However, I am certain that Mayo, through victory or defeat, will behave with humility and grace.