History has weighed heavy on the shoulders of every single man who has thrown a green and red jersey across his shoulders since 1951, every year there is expectation in the county, from those on the sidelines and those spread far and wide across the globe, that this will finally be the year.
But it is an expectation that 30 odd players, and those who are trusted to guide and plot their way to glory, take on gladly without complaint or question. They have put those expectations on their backs and taken the challenge on without ever doubting themselves or their ability.
It has been a silver, not quite golden, era for Mayo football over the past 20 years since they first put themselves back in the national consciousness. They have reached six All Ireland finals in that spell, and including a replay in 96' have stood out on Croke Park seven times, with 70 minutes to follow in the footsteps of Flanagan, Carney, Prendergast, Stantuon, and Quinlan, et al. They ultimately came up short on each of those occasions, but they never bent the knee at taking on that challenge. Ten other sides have reached the third Sunday in September since then, showing the consistency that Mayo have had over the years. Now once more we hope that consistency will pay the ultimate reward for their efforts.
We have had more than our fair share of headlines for the wrong reasons over the years, with spats over management, finances, and club fixtures taking some shine off the overall picture, but once again we are back in the big time with just 70 minutes standing in our way of glory.
For some it is a new experience, for some like Alan Dillon, Andy Moran, and David Clarke they have been there so often, looking at the summit only for cloudy weather on the field to stop them planting that flag at the top of the hill. These are some of the greatest servants to ever do their all for their county folk. It could have been quite easy for any of them to have stepped away over recent years and said enough is enough.
The road to Sunday has been a long and winding one that back at the end of January looked a long way off, when Cork put Mayo to the sword in their first serious competitive outing this year. But it was Cork who fell apart, ended up relegated in league and knocked out of the Munster championship by Tipperary in one of the surprises of the year. Mayo dug deep, waded through some troubling waters and have shaken off the defeat to Galway in the Connacht championship that will have stung as much as any defeat in Croke Park over the last few years.
Whatever happens on Sunday, this has been an adventure that has seen the whole squad play their part. In their seven championship games to date, Mayo have used 29 players, just eight players have started all seven games, with three more taking part in each game either from the bench or starting. There is none of them that has not done his bit when called upon, and no doubt if player number 30 is called on come Sunday, he will show his worth too. That is the mark of this group of players, they showed last year that they wanted the best in their management stand, that they are a band of brothers bound together by a thirst that will only be quenched by one thing.
It has been a long road, well it will be 23,737 days to be exact since Sean Flanagan climbed the steps of the Hogan Stand, we all hope that it will not tick into any more days before a Mayo man follows in his footsteps.
