McDaid has won two Donegal Senior Football Championships (2011 and 2013). He scored a point in the 2011 final and captained the team during the 2013 final.[3][4][5][6] Then on they went to the Ulster club final and a Division 2 League title. He kept Sean Quigley scoreless in the Ulster semi-final.[7][8]
McDaid injured a cruciate ligament in his knee while playing in America in 2008 and had to have two cartilage operations on his bones.[7]
McDaid is also a politician, representing the Fianna Fáil party. He is a carpenter from a farming background.[9] He became Mayor of Letterkenny Municipal District in June 2016.[10][11]
He married his bride Teresa over the festive period of 2017–18.[12]
^"No-one taking anything for granted in club semi-finals". Donegal Now. 5 October 2013. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2013. Glenswilly captain James Pat McDaid said he was impressed with the Ardara men and their quarter-final win over Gaoth Dobhair.