Barrie McKay: Kilmarnock release at 16 keeps Hearts winger grounded
Last updated on .From the section Hearts
Barrie McKay says he appreciates each day he has as a professional footballer after being told at 16 he "would never play again".
Hearts' McKay, 26, was a youth player at Kilmarnock and expecting to sign his first professional contract when told his career was over due to a hip issue.
But he joined Rangers and moved to Hearts via spells in England and Wales.
"I will never get too low and you can never get too high because I have felt that before," he said.
"I thought I was going to sign and was on such a high then it's taken away and you are on such a low after just a couple of minutes.
"I have a different lookout on it all from maybe other players. They can have the highs and lows but maybe when I feel a bit low, I look back on that day and it doesn't compare to that."
McKay thought his father "was at the wind up" when he called to say Rangers wanted to recruit him. And, in one of football's ironies, the winger signed on loan for Kenny Shiels, the manager who released him from Kilmarnock, at Greenock Morton in 2013.
"These things happen in life and it's about putting them behind you," he added.
