Death is never something that we like to talk about, especially when it’s of someone who is of a young age and only just entering the prime of his or her life.
John McCarthy was a talented young player who was well on his way to establishing a solid career in the highest level of Australian Rules football.
The Port Adelaide player was found dead on the sidewalk of a hotel in Las Vegas, where it’s believed he fell from a balcony of a high-rise building.
Drafted in 2007 by the Collingwood football club, McCarthy first debuted in round 19 2008 for the Pies in a win against St Kilda, and was also apart of their 2010 squad which won the AFL premiership, finishing with 18 games for the club.
McCarthy was then recruited by Port Adelaide at the end of 2011, and in 2012 had his best season, playing 21 games and kicking 5 goals. He finished equal 14th overall in the club’s best and fairest award.
At a press conference yesterday, Port Adelaide CEO Keith Thomas spoke of John’s popularity as a player and a member of the club. There is no doubt that the future looked bright for McCarthy.
To young supporters, ‘J-Mac’ would have been a hero and an idol. To older fans of the club, he was hope for the future. And most importantly to his family and friends he was a son, a brother, a cousin, a mate and someone whose memories and love were built and shared, and sadly, are all that remain.
When something like this happens we are all become grounded again. This happened when I heard the news yesterday.
And it’s true, footballers aren’t supposed to die.
We watch them each week; we love and loathe them. We read about them. Their lives are made public and somewhere in the process they go from being just regular people to immortalised characters.
Following the news of McCarthy’s death, it was pleasing to see tens-of-thousands of supporters take to Facebook and Twitter to show their respects, regardless of which club they supported.
The Essendon Football Club cancelled their end-of-season trip to Las Vegas out of respect, and other clubs released statements offering their condolences.
What happened in Vegas is still unclear. It’s known that McCarthy was joined on his trip by 10 other Port Adelaide players and had left for the holiday after the club’s best-and-fairest night on Friday.
Not much more can be said about what happened, and perhaps more light will be shed on the incident in future, but for now we mourn the death of a young boy.
The news of McCarthy’s death is heart breaking, and on behalf of the sports team and all contributors here at upstart, we give our deepest and most sincere condolences to the McCarthy family, his friends and both the Port Adelaide and Collingwood football clubs.
If anything is to be learned from this, let it be that we are not invincible.
May J-Mac rest in peace.
Joshua Jeans is a final-year Bachelor of Media Studies student at La Trobe University and is upstart’s current sports editor. You can follow him on Twitter: @jeansjoshua
