Winning an All-Ireland Final is not always a pleasant experience for players.
Ahead of Sunday's final between Galway and Waterford, former Offaly star Daithi Regan was on Off The Ball, speaking about the win against Limerick.
The 1994 Final was Regan's only All-Ireland win at inter-county level. On two other occasions, he won a club All-Ireland with Birr.
Despite the win in 1994, Regan's memory of that day is not about the win. Offaly were five points down entering the final stages but won the match, but won by six in one of the greatest comebacks in All-Ireland history.
I tortured myself for years afterwards as to why it happened, why on the biggest day of all, the day that you've waited for all your life, why did it go the way it did to the extent that the morning of the game, I genuinely had an absolute breakdown....
I was in the house on my own and it was horrific. It really was and it didn't get any better throughout the day.
Mike Houlihan hit me after three seconds off the ball and I didn't hit him back and I never got into the game... And I can remember leading up to the game, Mike Houlihan was a great operator and someone I respected greatly so it was a great challenge...
I remember doing sit ups every night and I had a photograph of Mike Houlihan, so when you'd coming up you'd be looking at his face and you'd be sore and you'd be driving yourself on. So then on the big day, when you did meet the challenge, I shit myself, to be honest and I had a bad day. I came down very hard on myself. I felt I'd let myself down.
Regan said he never had a preparation for a game like that before, despite playing in many high-profile games.
I was taken off with 20 minutes to go, and I couldn't wait to have been taken off...
We won, but for me it was diminished.
This Sunday, some players on the winning side may have an experience like Regan did, but he feels it's becoming less common with help from the likes of the GPA.
