FIVE-TIME All-Ireland Senior Football Championship winner Tomás Ó Sé visited Ruislip on Friday night to take part in the London Youth Committee’s Annual Presentation night.
The Kerry native was on hand to do some of the presentations at the Irish TV Grounds, after which he conducted the UK launch of his autobiography 'The White Heat'.
We caught up with the retired GAA legend, who now works as a pundit on The Sunday Game.
Who were you drawn to outside GAA?
“Roy Keane, Richie McCaw, Brian O’Driscoll. It was their attitudes more than anything. How they reacted to games. How they could turn games around by themselves. Not waiting for others to do it. I like that.”
You didn’t embrace the media as a player but is there anyone you always read on a Monday?
“I liked the big guy, Tom Humphries. It’s a pity he is not writing anymore. He is one of these guys who like Paul Kimmage or Vincent Hogan is able to write about any sport.”
What’s the hardest thing about being a pundit?
“You need to stay relevant. You need to know your stuff. You can’t bullsh*t.”
Who’s the best you played with?
“Seamus Moynihan, my brother Darragh and Colm Cooper. If I had to pick one, I’d put the Gooch on top of the pile. I just thought he was a different level. You talk about these world class soccer players who are always three or four steps ahead. Gooch was always that. I don’t think we’ve seen the end of the best of him either.”
Who do you stay in touch with from your inter-county days?
“Once you leave you don’t have the same contact but possibly Paul Galvin, Eamon Fitzmaurice, Darran O’Sullivan.”
Is there a feeling of having to redefine after 17 years in Gaelic football?
“I suppose you are consumed by the whole thing for years and years and you are a selfish person while you are so it is difficult coming out of. It’s hard to get used to life without it as well like because you are there for 17-years and it takes up everything, so, I suppose Orla would answer that.”
- See our full write-up and more pictures with Tomás Ó Sé in this week’s Irish Post newspaper
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