On Saturday evening in Newbridge, for the first time since 2010, Mayo exited the championship in the qualifiers. It will also be the first time since they lost to Longford in round one of the qualifiers eight years ago that they have not reached the semi-finals of the championship.
Speaking on Sky Sports following last night's game, Jim McGuinness called it the 'end of an era' for Mayo football.
McGuinness believes that the possible loss of veteran players such as Keith Higgins, Colm Boyle and Andy Moran in the coming months would mean the Mayo side which takes to the field from next season is a different team.
We all, as a nation, have been following this story for a number of years and we were all in this, 'Can they do it? Can they get over the line? Can they win this All-Ireland?'
Even if it is three or four players, that is never going to be the team that was chasing the All-Ireland. There will be a couple that will go and the chance to win the All-Ireland has gone for that team now and it will be a different team that starts that process over again. From that point of view, it is a sad night for Mayo because those guys have given so much.
Actually, tonight, Kildare did to Mayo what Mayo have been doing for years: they just kept at it. They just kept going and kept at it until the very bitter end. That was enough to see them over the line.
Former Mayo manager James Horan, who was also part of Sky Sports' coverage, believes Mayo still have the players to challenge for the All-Ireland in the coming years.
"There will be a few players, of course, that will look at it - where they are in their lives, there's a few getting married, all that sort of stuff comes in after your season is ended short.
"There's a lot of these players, Cillian O'Connor is 26, Aidan O'Shea is 28, Paddy Durcan is 23, James Durcan is 23 - the nucleus of that team still has to reach its prime.
"We saw Cian Hanley, not quite ready yet, James Durcan tonight wasn't quite there, Conor Loftus - that new breed which won the U21 All-Ireland, the minor All-Ireland in 2013, some of those players are now coming through.
"Very disappointing tonight. We will probably see some players from that team leave but the new players that are there are pushing through. They'll have to work hard."
