'I was never going to take it lying down, I came back fighting'

It was however the nights that were the worst. The sleepless nights when the Longwood man turned the news around and around in his mind, trying to come to some logical conclusion as to why he was the chosen one; why he was dropped.

Burke had worked ferociously hard to become a regular on the Meath senior football team.

His hard graft, his dedication, his understated talent ensured that he succeed in nailing down a regular starting place. He epitomised that old saying: “Don’t stop when you are tired, stop when you are done.”
When it came to giving everything to the Meath cause nobody was ahead of the Longwood man in the queue.

He has played in every position from two to seven in the Royal County defence and was an automatic choice during Mick O’Dowd’s term in charge.

It was the same when Andy McEntee took over and he was part of the team for the first few games of this year’s NFL Div 2 campaign. Normal service was resumed. Right?

Well, not quite. When he least expected Burke was invited to have a little chat with McEntee in the spring, before Meath played Down. It was then the bombshell was dropped.

Inter-county footballers are prone to the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune as much as anyone. It’s not just defeats that brings the pain.
The news he would be left out of the team struck Burke to the core and gives a fascinating insight into how much he cares.

“It hurt me because I suppose maybe for the last six or eight years I have been on the team pretty much all the time, apart from here or there. I had a few sleepless nights when he told me all right,” he says.

Day and night he examined his own performances, ran through them again in his mind in the search for a reason way. What had he done wrong?
Burke was one of three players – Graham Reilly and Donnacha Tobin were the others – who attended a Meath GAA media event at Dowth Hall last week ahead of Sunday’s Leinster SFC clash with Louth.

Now 31 Burke is now one of the more senior members of the squad. Meath football has been a huge part of his life since he was first asked to answer his county’s call by Sean Boylan back in 2004 and made his championship debut the following year.

He has lasted 13 years in a highly demanding, cut-throat, competitive environment not least because HE CARES. He simply “loves” pulling on that green and gold jersey. That will never fade.

He cares about Meath football too. He cares about representing his club on the county team; about not letting himself, or anyone else down. Cares deeply. Getting dropped was never part of the plan – and he was taken aback by his reaction to it all.

“It’s amazing how it does cut you up, I had a few sleepless nights to be honest, because you are giving your life to football essentially. I just didn’t sleep too well when I was out of the team, it was a huge shock to the system.

“Andy told me about three or four games into league and look, I know I’m getting older, although I don’t feel like my time is done or anything like that, but the league is a chance to blood new guys in and that’s completely fair, they have to be given a chance, I understand that and they were bringing me on a sub then.

“When I was coming on things were going okay, it was about keeping the head down, keep working hard, not giving in, these are important traits and he wants to see people with character, people who are still driven even if you bare on the bench for a couple of games.”

The reaction of some would be to nurse the hurt and walk away. That was never going to be a realistic option for Burke. Instead of recoiling from the challenge he took the other route. The road to redemption.

He has looked at how he can improve and contribute more to the cause.
“I was never going to take it lying down, I came back fighting and trained really hard and hopefully I might get the nod again and get my nose back in there for the championship,” he said his voice full of conviction.

“Andy and myself had a few conversations and they will stay private of course. No, Andy is a good man and I understood his decisions, I mightn’t have accepted them too well at the time but hopefully he's pleased with my attitude in training. I’ve tried to help the younger lads in there. I’m still fighting and I’ll keep going for as long as I can, as long as I’m wanted.”

Distinguished by a series of tattoos including a map of Meath, his mother’s image, his birth date, coffee beans, an image of St Michael, the warror saint, Seamus Heaney’s last words to his wife “Noli Timere – don’t be afraid” and oak leaves to represent Longwood) Burke also wore his hair long for a number of years, and a beard.

When he embarked on one of his characteristic forward surges out of defence he stood out, the mop of hair flowing in his slipstream.

These days the hair is trimmed back, something that was encouraged, it is understood, by the new Meath management.

In playing for Meath Burke has maintained something of a family tradition. His father, Micheal ‘Stoney’ Burke has the rare distinction of having played both minor and senior championship football for the Royal County on the same day in Mullingar in 1959.

Selected in goals for the minors Stoney was drafted into the senior team for a match against Longford after the regular goalkeeper was unable to line out. Later in life Stoney took to badminton and won an All-Ireland o-65s title with friend Mick O’Malley. They duo also went on to represent Ireland in that age group.

A caller into ‘Stoney’s’ famous hostelry in Longwood might be fortunate to see both Stoney himself and Mickey behind the bar. They are also helped out by Mickey's sister Niamh and mother Bronagh.

During his playing career young Michael has overcome his share of obstacles and that will, no doubt, help him in the world of business. In a Leinster SFC clash with Laois in Tullamore in 2010 he damaged ligaments in his knee and broke his fibula and tibia.

It was a “long road” back, but back he came. Then there was ‘Fingergate,’ the incident in 2014 when he was allegedly bitten by a Dublin player. Burke found the media storm that followed deeply harrowing and even now he’s reluctant to talk about it.

“It happened, heat of the battle, we had a bit of an argument, these things happen so, it’s done and dusted, I might include it in my autobiography and we’ll put out the true facts then,” he says with a laugh.

He has often wondered what Meath supporters think about him playing for the county team. Not obsessed but intrigued by the reaction of people to his wholehearted playing style.

He accepts he might not be the most technically gifted player in inter-county football but there's none who give more to a cause. He’s a 110 per cent man. That’s why it hurt when Andy McEntee told him he was off the team. Cut deep.
“To hurt is as human as to breath,” JK Rowling wrote in ‘The Tales of Beedle the Bard.’

Mickey Burke knows how true that is. He also knows that the answer is to fight back. Never give up.