SUMMER OF SAMS
Mayo ace out to provide his young son with an icon other than cartoon fireman of same name
ALL-IRELAND SFC FINAL FROM CROKE PARK If you stand alone you are moving in the right direction
BRENDAN HARRISON finds his thoughts split evenly these days between two Sams – one a fireman, the other the elusive All-ireland crown.
His young son Fionn knows more about the cartoon character than the Maguire version, even though his famous father is the tightest marking corner-back Mayo have.
And that’s OK by Brendan, 24, who hopes in time that his son will have cause to reflect on exactly how special this weekend was for the family.
Harrison is aiming to be part of a Mayo side that ends the county’s long and tormenting wait for an All-ireland win.
He is their go-to guy in defence, their tigerish man marker who consistently picks up the opposition’s biggest threat and tries to pour cold water on those flames.
Harrison said: “I kind of embrace that challenge really, I don’t overthink it or worry about it too much. Obviously we do our homework on different players, as do every county about us.
“It’s a nice job to get personally, that sort of challenge, but it’s a tough job to do too. You just have to go out and focus on what you have to do.
“Each player is different. But the way I look at it, I’m marking some of the best players around anyway, week in-week out in our own training; Andy Moran, Cillian O’connor, Conor Loftus, all of those fellas. You get well used to playing at that level.”
Brendan reckons little Fionn will be in the crowd today, watching Daddy chase after Paul Mannion, Paddy Andrews, Con O’callaghan or whoever Dublin’s most important forward is deemed to be. He said: “I love it when he goes to the games, even though he’s too young to understand what is happening but it’s still a nice thing to have, to know that he is there. “If I’m still playing in six or seven years’ time, hopefully he will be able to understand what it’s all about.”
Harrison only joined the Mayo panel mid-way through 2013 and didn’t feature in their final loss to Dublin but learned some valuable lessons from that entire experience.
He said: “I felt the buildup had sapped some of the energy from me. It probably takes a bit of practice. The key is that you take the energy from it, rather than allowing it to take energy from you.”
Harrison handled it better last year and while Mayo didn’t beat Dublin after two All-ireland final ties, the Aghamore man still won his first All-star.
He said: “The year before, it was only a dream to get something like an All-star. It was a brilliant thing to achieve, a huge honour, but at the end of the day your main goal has to be a Celtic Cross medal.“
Harrison has relied on tunnel vision in recent weeks as the county around him has gone Allireland crazy.
The irony is that the majority of people in the city where he was actually born – Leeds – probably don’t even know the final is on.
Harrison said: “I was four when I came home to Ireland. My father is from Mayo and my mother’s parents are from Kerry. The joke is that I got the football from my mother’s side, the Kerry side.”
That joke will have to be knocked on the head if Mayo finally win today and become a football superpower in their own right.