McMenamin admits he went "too far"
November 27, 2012
Tyrone's Ryan McMenamin
The all-action Tyrone All Star corner back had more than his fair share of disciplinary problems during the course of an illustrious intercounty career, but he says he was driven by an insatiable desire to win:
"I know a lot of people would have written about me, about the negative side of the game," the Dromore man is quoted in today's Belfast Telegraph.
"I know that's what I've got in the media and that's probably what's out there, but I'm content with what I gave to football. If I did my very best for Tyrone, I'm happy enough.
"No-one is going to go through their whole life perfect. My football career will be remembered more for the off-the-ball stuff.
"At the end of the day, I don't really care. I played county football to win and that's all I did. I just loved winning. It drove me too far sometimes."
One of the most notorious incidents was when McMenamin 'knelt' on Armagh's John McEntee during the 2005 Ulster SFC final replay.
"It was one of those things you look back at and say to yourself, 'what were you thinking.' I rang John after that. He was happy with that, for it to be left on the field. He didn't want it to carry on."
As for the 'flick' administered to Paul Galvin's groin four years later," the O'Neill County great adds: "That was the spur of the moment. I don't even know why I did it. It wasn't an actual punch. I was kind of half laughing when I did it. I was watching it back on TG4 and even the commentators were laughing. Och, I shouldn't have done it. I had good craic at the appeals committee with it. It was good craic listening to them on it.
"My wife shakes her head now. I think maybe after the Galvin incident she says 'enough's enough.'
"I chatted to Mickey Harte too and he says 'if you do it again I can't back you.' I said, 'I know, I know.' He said I'd have to channel that aggression some other way. When I was retiring we agreed that he was going to have less disciplinary problems, less trips to Dublin." Tweet
