By Paul Keane​

Con O'Callaghan had won almost everything in the game even before last Sunday's All-Ireland senior football success with Dublin.

He'd already picked up a senior medal in 2016 and in the subsequent months won All-Ireland medals with the Dublin U-21s as well as the Cuala hurlers.

Yet by lining out against Mayo last Sunday in the senior final, he claimed perhaps the most important thing of all - bragging rights in his house.

Con's father, Maurice, also appeared in an All-Ireland senior final for Dublin, in the 1984 loss to Kerry, but only as a substitute when he replaced Joe McNally.

So even if Con hadn't kicked his brilliant solo goal just seconds into last weekend's thrilling final, he could still have lorded it over his father by simply lining out.

"Yeah, he played in the '84 final," smiled Con. "He likes to bring it up himself, he likes to chat about himself from time to time!"

Maurice O'Callaghan ended up playing both hurling and football for Westmeath, a county with which he has family ties, in the 1986 Championship.

There seems no chance of Con going anywhere though and fans are licking their lips at the prospect of watching him in blue for perhaps another decade.

It's anyone's guess how much silverware he might actually end up with because he remains a talented dual player and is the reigning AIB Leinster club Hurler of the Year.

The 21-year-old UCD student admitted that it has been an epic 12 months or so.

"I was involved with some very special teams," he said. "With the Cuala team, obviously we had potential from last year. And with the Dublin U-21s, again we had a savage team from last year and that potential was always there too.

"I had a brilliant year personally but the teams I've been part of have been pretty special as well. You're always hoping it'll be a good year. But I didn't sit down at the start of the year and say, 'I think I'm going to win this' or 'I think I'm going to win that'. I just took them as they came."

O'Callaghan played 68 minutes of Sunday's senior final win before being replaced by Niall Scully. He was on the bench as Dean Rock lined up the free that he converted with 76 minutes and four seconds on the clock to finally see off Mayo.

"I wasn't watching the match at that stage, to be honest," said O'Callaghan. "I had my head in my hands, looking at my feet. But even though I wasn't watching I backed Dean. The lads beside me eventually jumped up, so I knew he'd got it!"

David Clarke, the Mayo goalkeeper, fired the subsequent kick-out over the sideline and Dublin held onto possession for the next 70 seconds until full-time was sounded. By that stage, they'd been forced to retreat all the way back down the field and across their own goals.

"We probably thought that it might get blown up a little earlier, when we started going into the corner we were lucky enough not to get turned over," said O'Callaghan, a Commerce student at UCD. "But we got it in the end, thankfully the ref blew the whistle."

One of the most remarkable statistics associated with 'King Con' is that he's still only played around five minutes of national league football.

He appeared as a 67th minute sub in Round 1 of the 2016 league against Kerry but has otherwise been on club and U-21 duty at the start of each year.

It makes his impact on this year's Championship, which he finished with 2-20, including semi-final and final goals, all the more impressive.

"It's always good to get a bit of league experience because if you don't get it, you're being thrown straight into Championship and it might be a bit daunting," he said.

"But this year, because we lost the league final, it was almost like a fresh start. And the manager actually laid it out that there would be a fresh start. So I just said I'd give it everything I had and I'd see if I had a chance of getting in.

"We had a couple of really tough months of training in the lead up to the Leinster championship and it was a case of if you're performing there you might get into the starting team.

"And if you get into the starting team and you play okay, you've a chance of getting back in and retaining your position."

*** Sky Sports have partnered with the GAA on three key grassroots initiatives which will see the broadcaster invest a total of EUR3m over five years. The three initiatives are; GAA Super Games Centres, #GAAyouth Forum and the GAA Games Development Conference.**