Philly McMahon pictured after Dublin's All-Ireland win over Tyrone wearing the t-shirt dedicated to his late father, Phil.
By John Harrington
As the Dublin and Tyrone teams paraded past Hill 16 before Sunday’s All-Ireland SFC Final, Philly McMahon carefully scanned the crowd.
His friend Tomás had texted him the day before with the instruction ‘Look in the Hill’, but Philly couldn’t see him.
It was only when the match was over and the Dublin players brought the Sam Maguire Cup over to the Hill that McMahon spotted his friend and saw what he was talking about.
Tomás had gotten a t-shirt made for the occasion with a stencil of the character Walter White from the hit tv series Breaking Bad and the message ‘Philly he’s here’ written on it.
The T-shirt was a homage to McMahon's late father Phil who passed away from cancer in June and bore more than a passing resemblance to Walter White.
Tomás threw the t-shirt to Philly who was briefly overcome with emotion after he pulled it on.
His sixth All-Ireland Final was the first one his father wasn’t in Croke Park to witness so it was a bittersweet one, but losing his father this year also served to underline to McMahon just how much being part of his Dublin team means to him.
“Yeah, the last two years have been tough for me because of my Dad's situation,” said McMahon. “I'm just so lucky I had a great support network around me with the lads.
“There's a lot of people who have issues in their lives and adversity in their lives. People say, especially with mental health nowadays, people say it's okay to say there's something wrong with you.
“For me, sometimes actions are nearly stronger. To see Eoghan O'Gara going up to my Da through his illness, just to take that time, the guy has a young family and he was travelling down to Wexford.
“That just shows you the character that we have in the squad. Other lads done it as well.
“When you have that, that drives you on. It drives you on to fight for each other. That brings that little bit of a closeness even tighter.
“For me, I'm very fortunate. It was the same with my club Ballymun Kickhams and all the other supports that you have around you in the GAA community and certainly in my community in Ballymun
“I'm just grateful that I was able to get my Dad to see me win the All-Ireland last year.
“It’s probably tough on my mam being there without him yesterday but you can't fight reality, it is what it is. I just hope that they've (his family) have gotten a bit of happiness this year from it.”
Philly McMahon with Sophie Lawlor, age 8, from Templeogue, left, and Lucy Silke, age 6, from Lucan, during the All-Ireland Senior Football Champions visit to Our Lady's Children's Hospital, Crumlin in Dublin.
McMahon is keenly aware that he’s part of something bigger than just a team of players who are trying to be successful together.
He knows just how much their success means to others and that’s now the main reason why he pushes himself to be the best he can be for Dublin.
“Look it, at the start I loved football, it was a hobby,” said McMahon. “You win your first All-Ireland and your second All-Ireland and it's incredible.
“For me, then, I was very lucky that I was developing purpose out of it. And I seen the benefit of using sport as a platform to help people.
“Not everybody will get that, but I did, and I'm very fortunate. My motivation is that we're putting smiles on so many people's faces, especially in my instance last year with my Dad.
“I'm only a small cog in the wheel in terms of helping the lads to win an All-Ireland last year and this year.
“There's loads of people like that in Croke Park yesterday that probably won't see another game, probably won't see another All-Ireland. How could you not be motivated to go and pull on the Dublin jersey.”
McMahon has always been very open about just how transformative an impact on his life Gaelic Football has had.
His older brother John became a drug addict and eventually died from that addiction in 2012, but McMahon was steered away from potentially following a similar path by his commitment to Gaelic Football.
He was mentored along the way by former Dublin footballer Paddy Christie who did great work by coaching McMahon and many of his friends in Ballymun right up through the juvenile ranks
“Yeah, I said it before, Paddy would have seen the energy of the kids in Ballymun, and blended that well with the kids that were from Glasnevin, at a certain age,” said McMahon.
“And I would have had a lot of aggression, because of the problems I would have had at home, with my brother John.
“And because of my education around addiction, I would have been so frustrated and angry, because that. And I pushed that onto the pitch, and Paddy was the one that spotted that, and did it for a lot of young kids in Ballymun.
“Unfortunately there were a few that slipped through the net, that he couldn’t help. There was on guy, and he was incredible, his name was David Bewley, and he was incredible, oh my God.
“He had the movement of Diarmuid Connolly, that’s how good this fella was. But as I said, you kind of drop off, for whatever reason, maybe your community, where you’re from, the influences...”
Lord Mayor of Dublin Niall Ring, left, and Brother Kevin Crowley with Dublin footballer Philip McMahon during the Dublin All-Ireland Football Winning team's homecoming at Smithfield in Dublin.
McMahon regards himself as one of the lucky ones, and he’s dedicated a big part of his life to paying forward the favour that Paddy Christie did for him by helping others himself.
He’s a vocal advocate for drug policy reform, has set up the charity HalfTimeTalk that aims to engage, educate, and empower young people aged 17-25, and is now also visiting Mountjoy prison twice a week to work with prisoners.
“I’m working in Mountjoy, every Tuesday and Thursday, talking with prisoners,” said McMahon. “And these lads would have had problems with their self-image from a very young age, or their family members or environment would have influenced the choices they’ve made.
“And unfortunately when we look at Mountjoy, and when we look at the people in there, we only look at the crime, and don’t look at the person, and what they went through.
“There are people in there who have serious issues, essentially shouldn’t be there, might need psychological help, rather than their liberty being taken away.
“If you want to learn about life, go into to Mountjoy and work there for a couple of weeks. And that’s what Paddy Christie did really well for us, his intervention more so.”
Gaelic Football has opened a lot of doors for Philly McMahon and he’s determined to hold them ajar for as many other people as he can.
When he reflects on a six All-Ireland title in eight years he can’t quite believe just how much achieved as a Gaelic Footballer, but he’s determined to make the most of the platform his success has given him by helping as many people as he can.
“I can remember, and I can’t give you the age, driving over the canal bridge by Croke Park, on the bus with my ma, and saying to her ‘I’ll play there some day...’
“From that, to playing there in school, in the old Croke Park, that’s how old I am now. But six All-Irelands? Jesus, no.
“And it’s what it’s brought, the success of those All-Irelands, is probably more important than just saying I’ve won an All-Ireland, the way I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to develop a platform to help other people.
“And for me that’s the best bit about winning an All-Ireland, not saying four in a row, or six All-Irelands. It’s what you get from it, and what you can give from it.”
