As David Clifford enters the suite at Croke Park where our SuperValu media day is being conducted, he strolls past a framed Kerry jersey adorning the number of Colm Cooper.
The comparisons between Clifford and past greats of Kerry football have almost become tiresome at this stage. But, with back-to-back Footballer of the Year awards under his belt already, there is every chance he will have surpassed them all by the time of his retirement.
Michael Jordan is namedropped as a comparison for Clifford's brilliance - not by Clifford himself, of course - as is Tiger Woods. As he tells us the attitudes that were drilled into him as a child, Clifford reveals that he finds such comparisons uncomfortable:
Yerra, I don't think of it too actively really. I suppose you're always trying to improve and get better. It's still football no matter how much preparation you've done and there are still so many other factors. It's not like darts or snooker where you're playing at the same target.
There is an uncomfortable nature to it. From my parents I learned there was never any need to be cocky or appear arrogant. Why not try and be humble? You don't want to be talking about yourself in that light. You should try and let it brush off you.
There is, nonetheless, no denying that David Clifford is the face of Gaelic football in the modern age. It is no surprise, then, that he is one of the faces of SuperValu's 2024 All-Ireland football championship #CommunidtyIncludesEveryone campaign, launched in star-studded fashion at Croke Park on Tuesday afternoon.
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David Clifford makes innovative GAA rule change suggestion
Pictured is 2023 Footballer of the Year and Kerry star David Clifford at SuperValu’s launch of the GAA All-Ireland Senior Football Championship and its #CommunityIncludesEveryone campaign. Sponsors of the Championship for a fifteenth consecutive season, SuperValu were joined by Gaelic Games role models and advocates from across the country in Croke Park today to highlight the role of GAA communities in making Ireland a more diverse, inclusive and welcoming country for all. Photo: ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan
2024 has shown encouraging signs that the game is slowly starting to open up once again but, as is the way in the GAA, there will always be an inquisition for what the next rule change will be - especially with Jim Gavin now fronting the "Football Review Committee," tasked with assessing the future of the sport.
David Clifford, for one, has an intriguing suggestion when asked what rule he would change if given the chance.
The one thing that you see in the Aussie Rules is the 50-metre penalty.
A player gets a mark and if you step in front of him and try and disrupt him, basically try to slow him down, he gets a 50-metre penalty. So you could go from your own '45 to in front of the goal. That should speed things up a bit.
Also if there is a quick counter-attack and you get fouled and then if someone try to disrupt it or slow it down you would get a 50-metre penalty and it could be a guaranteeed score.
It certainly falls in the "revolutionary" rather than "evolutionary" category, though it is an intriguing suggestion. Coming as it does from the best forward in the country certainly gives it added credence.
20 April 2024; David Clifford of Kerry in action against Seán Powter of Cork during the Munster GAA Football Senior Championship semi-final match between Kerry and Cork at Fitzgerald Stadium in Killarney, Kerry. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
One major change that has been floated in the GAA in recent weeks is the potential return of the All-Ireland finals to September, with association president Jarlath Burns saying such a move could be possible.
Burns will find at least one vocal opponent of such a move in David Clifford, who tells us his "selfish" reason for wanting the finals to stay in July:
This is [me speaking] as a teacher and no-one wants to really hear about a teacher talking about their holidays!
But, like, we get to have a month of the summer holidays after the All-Ireland so that's very enjoyable. You get to go away or whatever, not that anyone wants to hear about that.
He goes on to say that the current layout of the split-season is ideal for players like him so committed at club level, while he also enjoys the added rest during championship time.
Last year's final brought heartbreak for Clifford and Kerry, who came up just short on a day when Dublin's Michael Fitzsimons had the Fossa man's number at Croke Park.
With the pitch at GAA HQ visible just behind him through the suite window, Clifford says that Croker is the "best place you can be when you win and probably the worst when you lose."
30 July 2023; Dejected Kerry players and mentors, top to bottom, Tom O'Sullivan, David Clifford, Tony Griffin, Tadhg Morley, and Jason Foley after the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship final match between Dublin and Kerry at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Daire Brennan/Sportsfile
Kerry will hope to be back again on July 27th in Croke Park, though their start to 2024 has been steady in comparison with their rivals.
They are through to a Munster final date with Clare after stuttering to victory against Cork on Saturday, a game which Clifford believes will stand to Kerry as the year progresses.
Even some legends of the Kingdom's history have expressed doubts over their All-Ireland credentials this year and, whether or not one believes this is a case of classic Kerry "cute hoorism," there is certainly a sense that they have something to prove this season.
For Clifford, the focus can only be on the next game, as Kerry seek to improve with every fortnightly outing.
We genuienly don't think about the opposition, we take it session by session, day by day, and game by game. If you start looking too far ahead and assessing where you are in the season you'll get tripped up. There are so many good teams out there.
It is a notable year for the Clifford family in 2024, with brother Paudie following in David's footsteps in captaining the county. David tells us, however, that it changes little about the dynamic of his relationship with his older sibling:
We don't spend too much time talking about football but we spend a lot of time together, whether it's golfing or being with the same group of friends. It's nice for him and it's great for Fossa to have another captain.
He goes on to tell us that his son Óigí is now at the age where he is not only beginning to take an interest in GAA but an avid one.
Clifford tells us that his two-year-old is starting to mimic the celebrations of his favourite soccer players, and laughs when it is put to him that we may look forward to seeing Óigí line out in the green and gold in the 2045 All-Ireland final.
One has to assume that, should Óigí follow in his father's footsteps in such a manner, David Clifford will almost certainly have retired by that speculative 2045 mark. If he does so with only one Celtic Cross to his name, will he deem it a success?
You would like to win the All-Ireland every year. But if was retired I would not be going about telling people I have no All-Ireland medal or one All-Ireland medal. You will live your life normally. We do everything in our power to try and win them.
Featured image: INPHO/Shutterstock
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