Dublin Philly McMahon has revealed that the words between himself and Colm 'The Gooch' Cooper at the end of his team's All-Ireland football final victory over Kerry were amicable and that he feels his "edge" lends itself to him playing Gaelic football at his peak.
McMahon also discussed the faith the Dublin management have put in him to lead the defensive line, telling Today with Sean O’Rourke on RTÉ Radio 1: “I was thankful that Jim Gavin and the management team had the trust in me to mark such big names. Cooper is probably one of the best footballing forwards of my generation.
“We spoke and I said to him, ‘You play your style of football and I’ll play my style of football.' We both respected that and shook hands.
“I go out and play a certain type of football. Thankfully the way I play has got me certain plaudits. People are talking about me getting man of the matches and winning player of the year.
“Them individual accolades don’t mean much to me unless the team wins.
“They trust in my capabilities to do a job for the team and they ask me to go and do it. Thankfully I’ve had a really good year and I’ve enjoyed it.
“The thing that made me pick Gaelic football over soccer was the physicality of the sport. It suited me. Most teams have a couple of physical players and it’s important to have those kind of players to have a nice balance throughout the team.
“Most players play outside their comfort zone, otherwise you’d be sitting on the bench.
“I like to think I play on the edge and that will give me an advantage.”
Growing up in Ballymun
McMahon was raised in Dublin's Ballymun and speaks fondly of an often derided area: “I was only driving through the other day and reflecting on what it was like. It was a very tight community. We had the flats. The towers. But we had a lot of greenery. In the summer time everyone would be out together and having fun.
“There’s a real bad stigma about Ballymun and that’s led to youth in the area having low self-esteem.”
His brother's death
The footballer's brother, John Caffrey, died three years ago, and the death of the most influential person in McMahon's life is an event that has shaped him as a person.
“John would have struggled a lot of his life with drug addiction. Growing up in Ballymun drugs were rampant. A lot of his friends would have ended up on drugs. In 2012 John passed away from a heart condition," said McMahon.
“It wasn’t directly from drugs. He was clean for three years before he passed away. But the effect of drugs on your body eventually takes its toll.
“It was only when he passed away that I realised what a massive influence he was on my life. Other people who would have been a bad influence on me would not have come near me because of my brother.”
McMahon himself prides himself on his clean living lifestyle, not drinking alcohol, and being unique to himself.
“I was always the kind of fella that wouldn’t follow the crowd. Even in a fashion sense. In terms of alcohol. When a lot of my friends were drinking alcohol I was probably kicking a football," said McMahon.
“That was my savour from going towards drink. I’d be out on some occasions and some people might think I’m drunk because I enjoy the nights out with friends. I don’t think you need to drink to have a good night or celebrate.”
After school McMahon moved into sports management, but he needed a steer from the DCU Sport department to get the right balance between life, work and rest.
“When I finished school I was younger than most people and was only going on 17 when I left school. When I completed my Leaving Cert I did a sports and leisure management diploma," said McMahon.
“From there I went and got a job and bought a big, fancy car, and fell into a bit of a trap. So then when I went to get on the Dublin team what happened was I needed work to pay for the loan on my car, but I also needed to get a job that would facilitate my training for Dublin. So I went to DCU Sport and they helped me out a lot.
“But I was in a university working. I was surrounded by a lot of people that had been in college and it forced me to go back and repeat my Leaving Cert and then went on to a degree in DCU.
“I run four gyms. Three called BK fitness and a new fitness club that is designed around people that don’t actually like going to the gym.
“So it’s designed for people that have had bad experience going to mainstream gyms and didn’t feel comfortable in.
“Mainstream gyms don’t really have good retention levels, but private gyms do. That’s my biggest focus.”
Playing inter-county football is a huge commitment in terms of time, but as McMahon's passion, he feels he has got the balance right between playing the sport at the top level and enjoying the other aspects of life.
McMahon said: “It takes a lot of time. But it's important that you would have a good balance in life. You’d have your family, your hobbies, your sport and sometimes your hobbies are your sport but it’s separate for me. And obviously you’d have your profession.”
Being a role model
Role models come in many different shapes and forms in society and McMahon is keen to make sure he can be one.
“I would have gone in to talk in Trinity Comprehensive which was my school. We’ve also developed a business course for the school, with a company called Action Coach, that approached me," said McMahon.
“Family tradition is a big one. I didn’t have anybody in my family who had went to college. And then when I went to college a lot of my family members went to college. My two sisters went to college. My two nieces did. So family tradition is definitely is something that can influence it.
“I’ve had friends that have passed away from drug overdoses. I have friends that have gone to prison. I don’t turn my nose up against them. And I’d be willing to try and help them no matter what they’ve done.
“Everybody has problems. Everybody makes mistakes. It’s important that the support is there to push them to the right path.”
