Brian Fenton spent Dublin's Leinster championship opener against Meath watching at home in the company of Marty Morrissey and Éamonn Fitzmaurice, occasionally flicking over to the Premier League on Sky.
His appeal against his red card in the league final had fallen at the CCCC hurdle and, in a break with established tradition, Fenton chose not to exhaust every possible avenue of appeal.
The two-time Footballer of the Year had sought the appeal mainly on the grounds that he had never been sent off at club or county level and was keen to overturn it on that basis alone.
"It was more (a case of) appealing on that side. I know for sure it shouldn't and won't happen again - I can say that now and I'll be in the thick of it in an All-Ireland semi-final or something (trails off)...
"No straight red, no two yellows in one game, nothing. And that was part of the plea, good behaviour. It just has never been part of my game.
"Look, in retrospect, there will be that asterisk against my name. But I don't think I will be too ashamed of it down the line. It's not the worst thing that has been done on a Gaelic pitch, I suppose.
"I kind of said to Dessie, 'look, give it one crack maybe.' Because I didn't want to be a distraction for the team on match-week.
"We had a look at it and thought appealing it would be a good exercise but obviously the CCCC and that committee just chose to uphold it, which is fair enough, I was disappointed obviously but you just have to respect it and move on.
"I didn't know anything about the first level of appeals, I don't know anything about the second level of appeals, so I said, 'look, we'll leave well enough alone and suck it up at this stage.'"
Reflecting on the incident late in the game with Derry's Eunan Mulholland, Fenton is annoyed he reacted to what he described as a closed fist challenge.
Three points down in injury-time in extra-time, Fenton shipped off possession and was caught in the rib area by the Derry substitute and responded with a push/shove to the neck and upper torso, sending Mulholland to the deck.
"It was also the frustration that we were probably about to lose the game," Fenton says. "All that emotion and there was fatigue involved as well.
"But as quick as the game flows, you can see these tackles coming, as they come, if you know what I mean. Teams at that stage will foul and try to slow the game down or concede a free to get set defensively.
"You could see the closed fist coming in. It's not something I would ever leave in there, and it's not something I like in the game, to be totally honest with you.
"So definitely it peed me off a little bit.
"It was just under the ribs. I don't know did he even get me in the rib cage or core or anything. It’s around there, they can be sore enough.
"It’s not the way you are taught to tackle anyway, it’s something you do intentionally.
"You see it on hurling, the kind of clip across the elbow that they don't like, they're kind of red card offences.
"And it’s something I would be of the opinion that goes missed a lot of the times by referees. You can get away with it, if you know what I mean.
"And it can be a very dangerous, kind of nasty little thing to do.
"Look, I suppose that was where the frustration came out of.
"I think with Mickey Harte teams I have always been closely marked, with Tyrone down through the years and now with Derry, and it's something I will have to get used to for the summer is that close attention and off the ball stuff."
Fenton was speaking to assorted members of the Gaelic Games media in a room in a StayCity 'aparthotel' in Little Mary Street, Dublin.
One member of the media suggested we plonk ourselves on the bed to interview the midfielder, in the manner of Paula Yates on the Big Breakfast.
The midfielder, who won his seventh All-Ireland title in his ninth year on the starting XV last year, admitted that Sunday afforded a glimpse of the future.
"I was hemming and hawing about whether to go into the match or not but I didn't. I watched it from home, watching Marty and Éamonn Fitzmaurice on the box and Ciarán Whelan in the studio.
"It's probably like a window into retirement in many ways. Like, Jesus, this is what it's all about, I used to be out there!
"When I retire, I'll definitely go to Hill 16, I'd say. But it is weird."
As a current player immersed in it, how did he react to viewing a match through the prism of the TV coverage? Did the commentary and analysis chime at all with their dissection of games internally?
"I suppose commentators maybe play some things down or build some things up a lot. The Stephen Cluxton kick-outs maybe and (talk of) Dublin malfunctioning... you take all of that from a different viewpoint because we knew Stephen was just back and it's obviously an area for us to work on.
"You watch it in a very analytical kind of way. It's like reviewing a match afterwards. We don't watch it to enjoy it as a supporter. We watch it to analyse it and break it down tactically."
In Fenton's absence, the Dubs skated to a routine 16-point win over Meath last Sunday, a margin very much in keeping with what everyone has grown used to in the last decade.
They face recent All-Ireland U20 champions Offaly in the upcoming semi, who just kept their head above water in Division 3 but turned over Laois in the quarters.
While Dean Rock, no longer bound by the official media line, felt free to declare that the Leinster championship was "dead in the water" in the Irish Times recently, Fenton sticks by the mantra of one game at a time - "I know that's very cliché," he adds apologetically.
As far as discussion with the Dubs goes, most people are pitching forward to the end of the season and a likely tussle with either Kerry or Derry - the Ulster champions increasingly grouped as part of a Big Three in the football championship. A narrative which was very much copper-fastened by the Division 1 final epic.
"They were very good last year. They're deadly now though," Fenton says of Derry.
"You could tell from the league final that they have almost every box ticked in terms of their physicality, their fitness, their key players and players coming off the bench.
"Obviously with Mickey, they've had a great bounce from that. But they were excellent last year. It's not like they've gone to a massively different level.
"The two lads in midfield, (Conor) Glass and (Brendan) Rogers, they're probably the best around - the best in the business, realistically.
"They're a scary, scary outfit."
The league final loss was Dublin's first in a decider since the 2017 Division 1 final and only their second in a national final since the 1994 All-Ireland loss to Down.
While it was only decided on penalties in the end, Fenton acknowledges that Dublin were only clinging on in the match proper.
"We got the last-minute point, a kind of controversial free and we turned them over to level it.
"They played better than us in extra-time and went three ahead but we got the last-ditch goal, which never happens in GAA. It's so rare to see a goal like that go in.
"It just felt like we were kind of hanging on at many times throughout the game.
"I think it was a fair result in a lot of ways. Sometimes you have to suck it up and move on."
For Fenton, the match flagged up "how good Derry were at spoiling our game".
"It's a big message for us and our dressing room – isn't it better it happened now rather than late July. We’ll take huge learnings from it and hopefully be ready to go come the All-Ireland series."
Asked whether they would consider Derry to be their primary challengers, Fenton responds that he'd be worried by the quiet that descended in Kerry.
"They're (Derry) definitely one of many (challengers)... Or one of a good few anyway.
"The chat has quietened a lot on Kerry and I would take that dangerously. I think it's dangerous to downplay Kerry. They're an incredible team.
"Similarly Mayo, we can never seem to get away from Mayo as well.
"There's loads of good teams out there but Derry are right up there, of course. You can all see it and any team around the country can see that they're a class outfit."
In the aftermath of last year's All-Ireland final, there was an assumption that a number of Dublin's veterans would take it as their cue to walk away. Captain James McCarthy, while sipping a post-victory Guinness in the press conference, sighed at the question about his future in a fashion that said the end was nigh.
However, he, Cluxton and Mick Fitzsimons - all three of whom are on nine All-Irelands - are back for this year, even if they have been involved sparingly until now.
"James had a couple of niggles with a calf, a hamstring, I think they've all been ironed out," says Fenton.
"Stephen has been training away with the goalkeepers behind the scenes. Mick came back January, February, I know he's busy with his own profession – he’s a doctor. They’ve always been there, been part of the meetings.
"Stephen, James and Fitzy obviously know what it takes to keep themselves in good shape and look after their bodies and make the right decisions in terms of club games.
"None of them are going playing 5-a-side or astro on a Thursday night.
"Sorry, Stephen might play badminton (laughs). Actually, he plays football or soccer or something, over 35s..."
Was he one of those who thought the three lads might depart after last summer?
"Yeah I probably did. Maybe I was believing the general media consensus, or the general Irish consensus, that they would.
"But it was never confirmed either. You wouldn't blame them obviously to get to the nine (All-Irelands) milestone or whatever.
"But then when they come back it kind of serves as a reminder - I said this over the years - that we are getting the right people in the room again, the core playing group.
"You are saying, Jesus, we could be in the mix again this year."
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
