“They call him God. Well I reckon he’s a better player than that.” Those words of Stuart Barnes sum up how many rugby and general sporting fans feel about Brian O’Driscoll who this weekend brings the curtain down on his Ireland career at the Aviva Stadium against Italy.
A man who has gained friends and respect as much within business as on the playing field I have seen him in action at a number of corporate events and never failed to be struck by his humility, charisma and ability to engage with Kings, presidents and the common people.
The video highlights package below is longer than the normal video we share but if you need a reminder of what can be great about sport, then it is worth taking eight minutes.
The personal tributes have come from around the world of sport and will grow to a raucous cacophony by the time of Saturday’s game and his ultimate finale in Paris seven days after.
There are some that catch the eye from a commercial perspective as well.
O2 are making sure they and their customers are part of the action by mounting a social media campaign asking for photo’s on the theme of #thirteen. They will be gathered together into a mosaic and presented to O’Driscoll on Saturday as well as viewable on line. It’s a chance to stake a tiny claim on a historic career and O2 are donating €1 for the first €10,000 pictures to Temple Street Children’s Hospital and the ISPCC.
Another company to be on the mark in a very visible way is advertising agency Target McConnells who have covered their building in Dublin with a “Thanks be to BOD” wrap that will be seen by many fans on the way out from the City Centre to Ballsbridge on Saturday.
It is said by some that the word hero is devalued by overuse and that it should be reserved for those who save lives. My contention is that heroic actions can be in the smallest and most personal environments. Any action that leads others to behave in a different and better way can be classed as heroic in any given moment.
O’Driscoll has inspired people to try harder, be better and take pride in their country. That is heroic in this corner of a world where inspiration has been in shorter than usual supply over half of his career to date.
He would not claim it but we can do so as a nation on his behalf. Thank you Brian.
Thanks to Inpho Photography, our image partners for the great shot of O’Driscoll in action against New Zealand, one of 100 they have gathered from the course of his career and available to purchase from inpho.ie.
