Mayo are football's great romantics.Eleven All-Ireland final defeats since the last time they lifted Sam Maguire in 1951. Six in the last decade alone.
But still they believe in happy ever after.Aidan O'Shea has been there for all six of those big-day break-ups. The towering forward has an equally high profile and has often been a lightning rod for criticism when Mayo fall short.
His failure to score in an All-Ireland final is mentioned more often than his three All-Stars.Many 32-year-olds with 14 years on the inter-county clock would surely be tempted to say to hell to with it.
But the Breaffy man seems to be thriving under new manager Kevin McStay.O'Shea was one of Mayo's star performers in last Sunday's Allianz Football League final win over Galway, winning four frees and assisting the same number of points for team-mates.After the 2021 decider defeat to Tyrone, McStay wrote in the Irish Times that "nobody can agree where Mayo should play him and what his best position is, yet he has been playing for over a decade.