David Clifford tells Darran O’Sullivan how handles all of the pressure and attention he receives

Lee Costello

“I probably don’t take too much notice of it.”

It’s hard to believe that David Clifford is only 23 years old, as it feels like the Kerry star has been torturing county defences forever.

The flying forward burst onto the scene at such a young age, it felt as though the weight of Kerry’s expectations were thrust onto him pretty much immediately.

Since then, Clifford has continued to impress, and deliver quality performances, but for as long as The Kingdom go without winning an All-Ireland title, there last being in 2014, then the pressure and attention, wanted or not, will continue to mount on their number 14.

Darran O’Sullivan had retired from the county panel just one year after a young Clifford was introduced, so the former Kerry legend was delighted to chat with the prodigal son at the launch of SuperValu’s #CommunityIncludesEveryone campaign.

The GAA Hour host wanted to know first and foremost how the Fossa clubman copes with so much attention, and from such a young age.

“Since you were 16 or 17, people have been talking about you, and then with the minors, you more or less went to Croke Park and sent out a couple of messages, it feels like a lifetime ago now that you kicked 4-04 in the minor final.

“Have you found it tougher every year with the amount of attention you’re getting, on and off the field?

“And I know you’re not the most active on social media, which is probably a good thing, so you’re able to get away from it. But have you found every season that the amount of attention that you’re getting is increasing?”

“In terms of the off the field stuff, like you said, I probably don’t take too much notice of it,” said Clifford.

“I don’t hear about it too much which is probably a positive thing. In terms of on the field, look, some teams have their styles, some teams drop bodies back, others don’t, and they go toe to toe, so yeah it has changed over the years, but I think luckily, every year in Kerry, we’ve had scoring forwards.

“So if it’s not me who is doing the scoring, it doesn’t particularly matter, you know what I mean? I’m happy enough with that.

“So long as somebody else is doing it, and that’s been the case most of the time, so some days you get more attention than others maybe, but you’re still having a one on one duel with a man, most days you go out, which hasn’t changed.”