For us mere mortals we can only imagine how tough it is.
These county players put hours and hours and hours into their championship preparation.
It’s the be all and end all for most counties and if you are from one of the holy Trinity of Dublin, Kerry or Mayo nothing short of an All-Ireland is a success.
Every team has their goals, but for these three winning is everything, especially in Kerry.
The Kingdom is the most successful county to ever play Gaelic football, 37 All-Ireland titles and counting but their closest competitor and die-hard rivals in Dublin are now closing that gap and have 27 titles.
Anyone from outside of Kerry can only imagine just how football-obsessed it is, the talk of every parish and in every pub and shop around the county.
People in Kerry love their football and everyone will have their opinion about whatever match happened last Sunday.
Darran O’Sullivan was speaking at Sky Sports’ announcement of a €3m investment into grassroots GAA.
Speaking to reporters, O’Sullivan said what it’s like living day to day in Kerry after a defeat:
“I opened the bar and restaurant at the start of the summer so I can’t avoid it, it is very tough but even more so for management because as a player you’re going back to your club and try and distract yourself where as they’re not and they’re constantly replaying this stuff over and over in their heads,” O’Sullivan said.
“In fairness, there’s a lot of ‘experts’ around the place who all think they know best and they’re not shy in giving their opinion either.
“It’s tough, it doesn’t get any easier until you get back out there and concentrate on playing football again.
“I’m around a long time and I’m well used to shrugging it off with people but it’s tough because you don’t stop thinking about it, you’ll be looking at interviews of Dublin players and you won’t stop thinking about it.
“Most people are genuine, they are Kerry fans and they all went Kerry to do well but not everybody is willing to put in the time and the effort even though it is easy to say ‘You should have done this’ or ‘You should have done that’ or ‘This player should have played’ it’s very easy in hindsight.
“Everyone has an opinion, which they’re entitled to, but if people just took a step back and said really does this player need me telling him what should or shouldn’t have been done.
“It’s just that everyone has an opinion, which they’re entitled to, just not everyone needs to hear it.”
