Declan O'Sullivan today announced his retirement from gaelic football at the young age of 31. After retiring form international football at the end of last season, he had planned to continue playing for his club, Dromid Pearses. However, he took to twitter today to confirm that the injuries that dogged much of his career had ensured that a club career would not be possible.
After my op this morning sadly my football journey is over. Thank you @dromidgaa @SouthKerryBoard & @Kerry_Official it's been an honour.
— Declan O Sullivan (@declansull11) December 15, 2015
That announcement had us thinking back to November of last year when O'Sullivan announced his retirement from the Kerry senior panel and Jack O'Connor filled us in on O'Sullivan's incredible commitment to GAA.
Former Kerry manager Jack O'Connor was on Newstalk's Off the Ball last night to talk about Declan O'Sullivan's retirement from inter-county football. The two fellow clubmen won three All-Irelands together in 2004, 2006 and 2009.
Prompted by a few text messages to the show, Joe Molloy asked O'Connor if it was true that O'Sullivan (who was Kerry captain that year) had given up his job during the 2006 Championship in a attempt to recapture his form.
That's true, that's certainly true. You see this is the part, that supporters and the people that go think that they have a right to criticise players, this is the part they never see. I could see close hand what this man is putting into it. It would've been the popular decision in Kerry at the time to leave him off for the final, things being as they were. But I think this man after the effort that he put in deserved to be brought back as captain. I felt very strongly about that and my faith was justified. It proved right in the end.
A little bit in disbelief that the level of commitment, Molloy went onto ask "Did anyone think of saying 'don't give up the job!'"
Well you see, it just tells you what football meant to him. He had captained the team on '05, the year before and this was the second stint at it. He was hugely determined to bring that cup back home and bring it back to the parish of Dromid. Football just takes on a life of its own down here. Like the chap said long ago, 'it's not a matter of life and death, it's more important than that'. That's the importance it took on for him. You couldn't put a price on what it meant to him to bring the Sam Maguire back to Dromid in September '06. A very small parish and it just so special to be around and be your own man.
The story about the Dromid Pearses player quitting his job is briefly touched on in Jack O'Connor's book 'Keys to the Kingdom'.
After a Munster final replay loss to Cork, O'Sullivan packed in his job with Powerade which he felt had him on the road too much.
He’s actually given up his job. He was working for Powerade on the road, and the job was taking him to Tipp and Limerick and other far-flung places during the day. He felt that it was taking a lot out of him that he could be putting into his football. He packed it all in, shortly after the second Cork game, and just vowed he’d do whatever it took. He’s been phenomenal to watch. He’s applied himself inside in training. We can see he has found his form. Meanwhile the lad is just living on what money he had saved. He has gone at football with a vengeance, looking to prove himself all over again to everybody. I’ve asked him a couple of times, did he need anything, but he has been determined to work it out on his own.
You can listen to the full interview with Jack O'Connor below.
Picture credit: Brendan Moran / SPORTSFILE
