While the GAA remains an amateur sport, there are avenues for top players to make a bit of extra cash on the back of their successes on the pitch.
Corporate gigs are a part and parcel of the inter-county game, with brands often keen to associate their products or initiatives with well-known sports stars. Of course, as individual and team accolades increase, the interest a given player would receive in this area would also be on the up.
It will not surprise you to learn that this can sometimes lead to a bit a bit of friction within panels. Certain players are always more likely to be offered such opportunities, something could bring about some jealousy from their teammates.
It seems that the Dublin footballers were not immune to such issues.
Bernard Brogan recalls issues of jealousy within Dublin panel
There is no perhaps no other player that capitalised on their brand as much as Bernard Brogan. At the height of his powers, the Dublin star has a huge number of commercial deals in place and seemed to be making the most of his opportunities away from the pitch.
However, this led to some issues within the panel.
Taking to Twitter, he recalled how his long string of corporate gigs led to some players in the squad questioning why he was the personally benefitting from team success to such a level. He believed it to be a non-issue at the time, although a brutally honest team meeting changed his perspective on the matter.
In the end, the players and management team came up with a creative solution to ease tensions.
But the team wasn’t the same.
“Why is Berno getting all the jobs”
“It’s because he’s a forward”
“It’s because he’s a Brogan”— Bernard Brogan (@bernardbrogan) January 25, 2023
Sometimes it was funny things like not liking someone's hat but this day it was more serious and it was coming my way.
“Berno can’t be talking about some sponsorship gig he got when other lads aren’t getting any”
I was shocked but had to take it on the chin.— Bernard Brogan (@bernardbrogan) January 25, 2023
“It’s important to remember that you’re getting those gigs and the attention because there are 14 other men out there working their asses off and helping you get the ball”
— Bernard Brogan (@bernardbrogan) January 25, 2023
The key takeaway here is yes feedback sucks and it hurts the ego most of the time, but when you have positive outcomes like this that impact your whole team - it’s worth it.
So welcome feedback even if it hurts and try to use it to build a better team culture.#teamculture— Bernard Brogan (@bernardbrogan) January 25, 2023
Playing for Dublin I got my ego checked a good few times but this one had the biggest impact on me and everyone on the team.
At the height of my career I was getting offered A LOT of corporate gigs and I’d happily accept them and think nothing of it.
But the team wasn’t the same: 'why is Berno getting all the jobs', 'It’s because he’s a forward', 'it’s because he’s a Brogan'.
Ultimately it was hurting the team so we called everyone together to have a meeting, which I can only describe as a kind of truth session, where players let each other know what annoyed them about each other.
Sometimes it was funny things like not liking someone's hat but this day it was more serious and it was coming my way. 'Berno can’t be talking about some sponsorship gig he got when other lads aren’t getting any.'
I was shocked but had to take it on the chin. Yeah I was getting a lot of gigs, they were offered to me, no one else was stepping up, so I’d say yes.
Then Pat [Gilroy] came in: 'it’s important to remember that you’re getting those gigs and the attention because there are 14 other men out there working their asses off and helping you get the ball'.
And from that moment on a percentage share of whatever anyone made from doing commercial jobs (off the back of being a Dublin footballer) would go into a team pot so that everyone could get a slice of the action.
A win-win for everyone.
The key takeaway here is yes feedback sucks and it hurts the ego most of the time, but when you have positive outcomes like this that impact your whole team - it’s worth it.
So welcome feedback even if it hurts and try to use it to build a better team culture.
This seems like a fair solution.
As Brogan points out, the team played a large part in a given individual being offered such opportunities, meaning they should also be entitled to feel the benefits of them.
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