Duncan O'Mahony
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Duncan O'Mahony (b. June 29, 1976 in Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland) is a Canadian football punter and placekicker.
Despite being born in Ireland, O'Mahony is considered a Canadian for the purposes of the CFL, as he and his family settled in Abbotsford, British Columbia when he was a child. O'Mahoney attended the University of British Columbia, where he set a conference record with a 52-yard field goal and was a first team CIAU all-star in 2000.
After his college career, O'Mahony joined the Calgary Stampeders for the 2001 CFL season, initially as a punter while Mark McLoughlin handled the placekicking duties. After McLoughlin's first retirement after the 2002 CFL season, O'Mahony assumed kicking duties for the Stampeders as well as punting. However, a lack of accuracy put him in the fans' doghouse quickly, and McLoughlin was lured out of retirement at the end of the 2003 CFL season so O'Mahony could return to full-time punting.
O'Mahony left the Stampeders after 2003 and signed with the British Columbia Lions, again as a placekicker and punter. O'Mahony had an adequate 2004, but his performance in 2005 was such that McLoughlin was again lured out of retirement to relieve him of his placekicking duties at the end of the year and the playoffs.
O'Mahony won the 89th Grey Cup with the Stampeders in his rookie season, 2001. He currently lives in Vancouver during the off-season, and works as a bartender when football is not in session.
On May 4, 2006, O'Mahony was released by the Lions. On May 10, 2006, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers signed him to a one year contract. It was expected that O'Mahony would be taking punting duties for the team in the upcoming season while possibly challenging Troy Westwood for the place kicking job.
On May 21, 2006, O'Mahony failed to show up for training camp with Winnipeg, and no one heard from him. He did make it to Calgary, but never got on a connecting flight to Winnipeg. The family issued a statement through the Blue Bombers club, saying they're having difficulty reaching him and there was a concern for his welfare. On May 22, 2006, O'Mahony's family confirmed that he had been located but due to personal issues has not yet shown up to training camp. Blue Bombers GM, Brendan Taman, has since stated that Duncan will not be playing for Winnipeg due to the nature of the situation.