Sean Cavanagh is a special talent and one of the finest servants of the game – nothing else

We were once told to "forget about Sean Cavanagh as far as he's a man."

What a shame that would've been. Sean Cavanagh is a lot of things. As a footballer, he holds his place right up there with the best of them. With any of them. As a leader, he has inspired greatness with county and country. A winner? You bet. As a man to forget? Never. In fact, it is that winning mentality that has time and time again seen Sean Cavanagh come in for criticism from the purists. Let's get one thing straight, Sean Cavanagh is an attacking footballer. He's one of the best that has ever been produced. You could ask a hundred men for their dream teams and, somewhere, the Tyrone legend will be shoehorned in. As a midfielder. As a half forward. As a full forward. What he did with McManus that infamous day in Croke Park, he's been the victim of that more than most. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FRTilzJ084 It's disgusting, it's frustrating and it's unfair. But everyone does it for their crest and you look any man in the eye (even Joe Brolly) and ask if they would do the same if it came to it, they would. When someone clears a soccer ball from the line with their hands, we applaud them. When Neil Back stole the ball from Munster's scrum in the European Cup final, most looked back and thought, 'Well, we'd all do it.' It's the nature of battle. Kill or be killed. And it's the ugly side of the beast that every winner has in them. Sean Cavanagh shouldn't be pigeon-holed for it. Sean Cavanagh plays in the heat of battle, he plays with his heart and he reacts instinctively. Sometimes, yes, he crosses the line. That incident in 2013 wasn't one of those incidents. But he threw himself to ground McCann-esque when McManus pushed him in the chest. He was slated along with the rest of them after this season's victory for going down too easily. It's not nice but, just like the Tyrone fans could've done when the shit and fan met surrounding the McCann dive the last day, Cavanagh's football shouldn't be tarnished with the same brush as a disappointing sideshow. Because, when he plays, he plays with character. He plays with attitude. And he plays with the sort of drive that makes it almost impossible not to look up to him. For over a decade, Sean Cavanagh has been singled out by opposition teams and he has never been silenced. For over a decade, he has been shimmying onto his right - everyone knows it, and yet no-one can stop him. For 12 years, he has answered the call of the Red Hands and he has delivered time and time again in their hour of need. All Sean Cavanagh is really guilty of is surviving the test of time. He has been there through all of it. From the start of it when no-one even pondered the idea of Tyrone. From the inception of the Spillane-coined 'puke football' because a group of men tackled at one time to help stage one of the greatest upsets in recent memory. He was there through the second and third All-Irelands of a county that had never reached those heights and even through the hard times and the relative famine since. Sean Cavanagh has been there and done it. He's starred in the rise of a county and now he's starring again in its comeback from the ashes. Yeah, they've had to pull on a few coattails and kick dirt in a few eyes to get there but, yet again, they're getting there. And, yet again, Sean Cavanagh is leading that charge. If Tyrone were away minding their own business, not challenging for trophies, no-one would give a damn. But they don't accept that. And, by God, on Sean Cavanagh's watch, they don't even think about accepting it. Say what you will about whatever Tyrone are up to, about whatever you hate about the team or any of that nonsense. But never suggest that Sean Cavanagh is less than he is. Never deny him his place amongst the greats.

Brought to you by AIB GAA, proudly backing Club & County. Follow AIB GAA on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.