Tyrone 2020

What success did he have?

Regular starter in a sport he took up at 18.

He was one of the very few GAA players that actually make in the AFL and now he is back. He’s going to be the main man for Tyrone from this point on.

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What success did he have? Did he win anything?

You said he was a failed professional which was incorrect. He had a successful AFL career and chose to go back and play for his county.

You said he was a success. Did he win anything?

You said he was a failed professional when he succeeded in the AFL. No need to be backtracking now.

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The world is full of failed professional sports people if that is your logic. Medals and awards are very narrow set of metrics and fail to take context into the equation.

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How is he a failed professional? Sure how many people get a wage, a house and a car to play gaa?

More than you think.

Did he win anything? Are you saying racking up appearances makes you a success because by that metric any professional that makes an appearance is a success and many of the sportsmen you constantly criticise are actually very successful. Seems a low bar.

Yes, agreed, winning things make you a success.

You’re the guy who called him a failed professional so quit trying to deflect from your own nonsense. He succeeded in a pro spot he only took up at 18 which is extremely rare and he’s back home by choice.

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Your words were he was a success. You haven’t provided any evidence of his success except for appearances. By that metric every professional sportsman is a success. Seems a low bar.

I have. He succeeded in a sport he took up at 18. He made it as a professional. You said he was a failed professional which is completely untrue as he established himself as a regular player and one of his teams best performers. The general outcome of GAA players who head to Australia is they are back home within a few years having barely kicked a ball.

There’s only a handful of players that have made more AFL appearances than McKenna and that’s a lad who decided to pack it in by choice at 24.

Why don’t you come out and qualify your failed professional comment.

You are talking nonsense on this. The measure of success as a professional is ultimately if you can make a good living doing it, and McKenna has done that despite the odds being stacked against him.

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You’ve shifted the goalposts to a very specific set of goals for this particular guy to qualify as a success, which basically boils down to he was young and he made some appearances. He didn’t win anything, he made appearances for a middling AFL team and is returning home having won nothing.

That’s a very low bar for what constitutes success, young + appearances, you should take this apparent criteria into account when criticising other sportsmen.

You’d call every professional footballer in England from League 1 up a success? Every one of them?

He took the sport up at 18, established himself very quickly in the team and became a regular.

You called him a failed professional but he succeeded despite all the odds being stacked against him. He has retired at 24 and there are only a handful of players from a GAA background who have made more appearance. You’re being incredibly dim if you can’t see McKenna is one of the very few GAA players to succeed it and make it in the AFL.

No because not every footballer at that level makes a good living and leaves the game when they decide they are finished with it. By your assessment there has never been a footballer who could be considered to have had a successful career for Ireland. In professional sport its money that counts, not medals.

You said every professional that makes a good living out of it is a success. A league one player makes enough to be a full time pro. That would qualify as a success with this criteria.