It dawned on David Clifford that one All-Ireland wasn't enough
The two-time footballer of the year had been going season by season without giving himself the opportunity to reflect on his career, which had comprised four All-Ireland finals including a replay and just one victory.
Speaking to the Irish Examiner, Clifford said: 'It was probably the first year where I personally got a chance to take stock and you're looking back at it and you're kind of saying, 'Jesus, I've had six or seven great years with Kerry, but still we've only had one All-Ireland. It was the first year where I thought, 'Jesus, that's not enough.''
Like his manager Jack O'Connor and brother Paudie, Clifford had also been paying attention to how Kerry had been seen as a one-man team. If it put any pressure on him, he wasn't feeling it. If anything, he took motivation from those who were trying to soften him up.
'Look, to be honest, I think there's a bit of that coming from people that are building you up, hoping you'll fail. So that gives me a lot of motivation, to be honest. I'm not sure if a lot of it is sincere. Some of it is, of course, but I'm not sure if it all is. So it gives you a nice motivation too.'
For the golden generation of All-Ireland winning minors including Clifford, Seán O'Shea, Diarmuid O'Connor, Graham O'Sullivan and Mike Breen, this latest All-Ireland victory will soften the coughs of those who claimed they had been underperforming at senior level.
Clifford admits he asked himself the question if that defeat to Dublin would define this group under O'Connor. 'Look, obviously winning in '22 was sweet, but the years that followed it were tough both personally and as a team.
'The '23 final in particular, it didn't go well. Obviously, we led by three points twice in the second half and didn't get over the line and you're kind of saying, 'Are we going to be defined by that?'
'But thankfully we're not. We came back this year with a real kind of motivation. Obviously, we got knocked back in the Meath game, but we're massively proud of everyone, wow we rode in behind each other after that and look, it's unbelievably sweet now to win.'
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