Pat Spillane was a very emotional man at full time as he watched his two nephews lift the Sam Maguire Cup for the first time on his final day in the RTÉ pundtiry booth. His nephews Adrian and Killian Spillane both came on at half time and contributed massively to Kerry's first All-Ireland title since 2014, with Killian scoring two points.
After the game, Pat revealed a story about his late father and how he never got to see his family bring 21 All-Ireland medals into the house.
GAA: Pat Spillane on Adrian Spillane's tribute
Speaking on the Irish Independent's The Throw In podcast today, Pat revealed the tribute his nephew showed to his father during the game.
Pat Spillane said:
"Adrian text me last night and he has 64, he had written the year down 1964 on his whatever, gloves or something like that, just to remember his grandfather and to just remember the occasion and what it meant so much because Kerry (and) Galway matches to us, as Spillanes, in the Spillane house.
Pat Spillane then went on to talk about his late father Tom, who died age 41, and the love he had for Kerry GAA.
"Like my father was a man in his 40s, passionate about football, was a selector with Kerry in 1964, went for a walk along O'Connell street and got a very bad pain in his chest, should have gone to the doctors, but said 'No, I want to be in the dugout tomorrow for Kerry'. The man died on the Tuesday after returning home from the All-Ireland the day before.
"Kerry-Galway clashes are always brought back those memories and this was an out pouring of that yesterday and it was just brilliant to see the two lads. The GAA is like I said is all about families and it's nice to see, my father played with Kerry. My uncle captained Kerry in the Polo Grounds in New York. My uncle Jackie trained Kerry to win All-Irelands and played with Kerry to win All-Irelands. So then you have myself, Mick and Tom and then you had another generation there with Killian and Adrian and it's just something special, something very personal and just special, I can't sum it up anymore."
It was hugely emotional afternoon for the whole Spillane family, and we're delighted Pat Spillane got the send-off his brilliant punditry career deserved.
You can listen to the full podcast here.
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