Earlier this year, Aidan O'Shea appeared on The Toughest Trade, travelling to the US to prepare for and participate in an NFL combine.
O'Shea could have appeared on the show a year earlier but was prevented from doing so by Mayo managers at the time Pat Holmes and Noel Connelly.
In a lengthy interview with Martin Breheny in today's Irish Independent, the former joint Mayo managers have spoken for the first time about being ousted from the job by the panel.
Producers of The Toughest Trade invited O'Shea and Rob Hennelly to participate. It would have meant O'Shea linking up with Premier League side Sunderland.
Holmes got in touch to voice his objection.
I contacted the producer of the programme and asked: 'Why are you ringing Mayo footballers? Why aren't you calling on Kerry or Dublin players - they're the ones with All-Ireland medals'.
He said they were looking for a particular type of character. I asked him not to contact Mayo players as our season had started and winning games was all that mattered to us.
Aidan rang me later on and complained over what had happened. I explained to him that he would be in a lot more demand if he had an All-Ireland medal and that all his efforts should be focused on that goal.
Former Armagh footballer Aaron Kernan would fill the role initially intended for O'Shea on that episode of the show.
You could say it worked out better for O'Shea - he did get to spend time in the US rather than Sunderland.
The Toughest Trade is an AIB-commissioned production. Stephen Rochford, the man who succeeded Holmes and Connelly, is an AIB employee. He's a branch manager in Castlerea. Unlike, Holmes and Connelly, Rochford had no opposition to O'Shea's participation in the show.
