THREE ALL-IRELAND senior medals, five All-Star awards and a five-time Ulster senior title winner.
It’s an enviable collection of accolades yet even though he’s turning 34 next year, Sean Cavanagh is not yet content to bask in the glow of past triumphs.
He’s nailed his colours to the Red Hands’ mast again for 2017.
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What motivates him to keep going?
He admits it is partly down to a fear of what happens after his inter-county days are over. It’s been the life he has known since first donning a Tyrone senior jersey back in 2002.
“That is really scary. It’s something that I’ve thought about for the last couple of years and you are not sure what really does come next.
“Going to training on Tuesday and Thursday night has been your life for 16 years or whatever at county level, it will be really surreal whenever it does happen that that’s not there.
“It would be an interesting documentary for somebody to do, to follow guys during that initial stage of walking away.
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Sean Cavanagh was speaking at yesterday's GRMA launch in Croke Park. The GRMA is a scheme is a new GAA membership card programme. Sam Barnes / SPORTSFILE
Sam Barnes / SPORTSFILE / SPORTSFILE
“I’ve no doubt it will be difficult but yeah that’s probably part of it, that I’m almost afraid to walk away.”
Despite all the miles on the clock, his fitness is still holding up as well.
“I took a couple of months to think about it and during those couple of months all I could think about was going back. I had a couple of niggly injuries and I wanted to see how they would fare out.
“I’m in reasonable condition injury-wise so all those factors combined and then I had a chat with the family and the wife seemed to be happy enough to push me out to get fed somewhere else, so there was nothing telling me not to go back.
Tyrone's Sean Cavanagh with his wife Finnoula at the 2016 All-Star awards. Donall Farmer / INPHO
Donall Farmer / INPHO / INPHO
“I have a long life to live and if I can battle on for another year and get a bit of success out of it, I might as well do it when I’m still loving it. My own instinct on it is to give it a rattle.”
Being part of a Tyrone team whose performance graph is on an upward curve helped influence his thinking as well.
The county claimed the All-Ireland U21 football title in 2015 before collecting Division 2 league and Ulster senior honours in 2016.
Sean Cavanagh captained Tyrone to the Ulster title in July Presseye / Andrew Paton/INPHO
Presseye / Andrew Paton/INPHO / Andrew Paton/INPHO
They bowed out at the quarter-final stage of the All-Ireland series but there is a sense that Mickey Harte is assembling another team to have a shot at the elite.
“The fact that we have (a) really good team probably makes it hard to walk away because we probably do see ourselves in that top bracket at the moment.
“I remember guys that retired in 2002, 2004 or 2007 and we went on and won All Irelands the following year and I thought it would be too much of a risk almost.
Sean Cavanagh and Mickey Harte after April's league final win. Lorraine O'Sullivan
Lorraine O'Sullivan
“We were disappointing against Mayo and Mayo probably could have easily won it the first day against Dublin. We probably feel as if we can compete with the top teams.
“We are going to be well tested in the National League next year and that’s something the team will embrace and I will be surprised if we don’t compete at the top end of it.”
That August sending-off against Mayo was not the appropriate manner in which to conclude either for Cavanagh.
“Everyone has that fairytale thing of trying to go out on a high but it doesn’t happen to virtually anyone in sport.
“But I had it in my head that if we were to get success this year I probably would have walked away, but because it finished on that sour note (I didn’t).
“If we had won that game and lost the semi final, I probably would have come to the same conclusion to come back too.”
Sean Cavanagh is shown a red card against Mayo Donall Farmer / INPHO
Donall Farmer / INPHO / INPHO
A dejected Sean Cavanagh after the All-Ireland quarter-final against Mayo Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
He’s made his decision to come back but is keenly aware of the ferocious commitment that it will entail.
“The commitment is mental, completely mental. There is no other way of putting it but at the same time if you didn’t want to do it, you wouldn’t do it.
“You realise you have to do it to compete but you do get hooked. You hear about people getting hooked on the gym, you get hooked on that feeling of trying to make yourself better.
“Whenever you get minutes playing with your county jersey on then, that’s fun like. I still love that part of it too.”
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Cavanagh's return for a 16th senior season with Tyrone - 'I’m almost afraid to walk away'
THREE ALL-IRELAND senior medals, five All-Star awards and a five-time Ulster senior title winner.
It’s an enviable collection of accolades yet even though he’s turning 34 next year, Sean Cavanagh is not yet content to bask in the glow of past triumphs.
He’s nailed his colours to the Red Hands’ mast again for 2017.
Whoops!
We couldn't find this Tweet
Whoops!
We couldn't find this Tweet
What motivates him to keep going?
He admits it is partly down to a fear of what happens after his inter-county days are over. It’s been the life he has known since first donning a Tyrone senior jersey back in 2002.
“That is really scary. It’s something that I’ve thought about for the last couple of years and you are not sure what really does come next.
“Going to training on Tuesday and Thursday night has been your life for 16 years or whatever at county level, it will be really surreal whenever it does happen that that’s not there.
“It would be an interesting documentary for somebody to do, to follow guys during that initial stage of walking away.
“I’ve no doubt it will be difficult but yeah that’s probably part of it, that I’m almost afraid to walk away.”
Despite all the miles on the clock, his fitness is still holding up as well.
“I took a couple of months to think about it and during those couple of months all I could think about was going back. I had a couple of niggly injuries and I wanted to see how they would fare out.
“I’m in reasonable condition injury-wise so all those factors combined and then I had a chat with the family and the wife seemed to be happy enough to push me out to get fed somewhere else, so there was nothing telling me not to go back.
“I have a long life to live and if I can battle on for another year and get a bit of success out of it, I might as well do it when I’m still loving it. My own instinct on it is to give it a rattle.”
Being part of a Tyrone team whose performance graph is on an upward curve helped influence his thinking as well.
The county claimed the All-Ireland U21 football title in 2015 before collecting Division 2 league and Ulster senior honours in 2016.
They bowed out at the quarter-final stage of the All-Ireland series but there is a sense that Mickey Harte is assembling another team to have a shot at the elite.
“The fact that we have (a) really good team probably makes it hard to walk away because we probably do see ourselves in that top bracket at the moment.
“I remember guys that retired in 2002, 2004 or 2007 and we went on and won All Irelands the following year and I thought it would be too much of a risk almost.
“We were disappointing against Mayo and Mayo probably could have easily won it the first day against Dublin. We probably feel as if we can compete with the top teams.
“We are going to be well tested in the National League next year and that’s something the team will embrace and I will be surprised if we don’t compete at the top end of it.”
That August sending-off against Mayo was not the appropriate manner in which to conclude either for Cavanagh.
“Everyone has that fairytale thing of trying to go out on a high but it doesn’t happen to virtually anyone in sport.
“But I had it in my head that if we were to get success this year I probably would have walked away, but because it finished on that sour note (I didn’t).
“If we had won that game and lost the semi final, I probably would have come to the same conclusion to come back too.”
He’s made his decision to come back but is keenly aware of the ferocious commitment that it will entail.
“The commitment is mental, completely mental. There is no other way of putting it but at the same time if you didn’t want to do it, you wouldn’t do it.
“You realise you have to do it to compete but you do get hooked. You hear about people getting hooked on the gym, you get hooked on that feeling of trying to make yourself better.
“Whenever you get minutes playing with your county jersey on then, that’s fun like. I still love that part of it too.”
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Gaelic Football Red Hands Leader Sean Cavanagh Tyrone