Tomás O'Sé's column in the Irish Independent is very revealing about the attitude to concussion or 'bangs to the head' during his own career and before.
He uses one tale to illustrate the issue.
He recalls a story told to him by Dr. Con Murphy about the tempestuous 1980 All-Ireland football final. Mikey Sheehy palmed home Kerry's only goal of a low scoring final.
Dr. Con was helping out the Kerry backroom team that day (not the most shocking story from the column) and at half time congratulated Mikey on his goal.
'Goal, what goal?', came the response.
Troubled, Con approached Mick O'Dwyer and said Sheehy would have to come off. 'Not to worry. We'll show it to him tomorrow,' was Micko's reply.
Micko's flippant reply has to be seen in the context of the time. Panic around concussion didn't exist to the same extent in 1980.
The attitude prevailed well beyond 1980. We know that Rory O'Carroll spent the last ten minutes of the 2013 All-Ireland final strolling around in a daze.
O'Sé's described instances from his own career when he was clearly concussed. Read the article here.
Read more: Balls Remembers... Kerry: The Lost Years 1987 - 1996
Read more: Mayo GAA Release Official Statement Acknowledging Mishandling Of Lee Keegan Incident
