Blaine Hughes tore his medial ligament in the warm-up for the All-Ireland senior football final, before going onto play the full game as Armagh lifted the title.
The net-minder was part of a collision with Joe McElroy in the warm-up that eventually led to the injury.
Alarm bells were raised in the Armagh camp but ultimately, having been strapped up and 'loaded with pain-killers', he opted to play through the pain barrier.
It did restrict him in ways during the game, as Armagh defeated Galway by 1-11 to 0-13.
"Some of the kick-outs he kicked to the right hand side went a bit short," Hughes' Armagh team-mate Conor Turbitt said on a recent episode of the Football Pod.
"Whenever you look back on it, you're thinking that has to be something wrong," he said.
"Lucky Galway didn't figure it out," added team captain Aidan Forker.
🗣"He tore his MCL."
🗣"He played the whole game with an MCL."
🗣"Usually that would worry you, but..."
Aidan Forker and Conor Turbitt break down what happened to Blaine Hughes before the All-Ireland Final.
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Speaking on The Smaller Fish GAA podcast earlier this year, Hughes explained to Colm Parkinson how the injury came about and how it restricted him.
"I thought I wasn't going to be able to play walking around the parade," he said.
"I was on the ground, in my head going this definitely isn't good. Every time I went to internally rotate my knee, it was just pushing around the place.
"I just waited and walked around the whole time, didn't do the warm-up after."
Hughes told his Armagh team-mates that he was in bother and could only properly kick the ball to one side of the field, asking the full back line for lots of movement.
He managed to clip many of his kick-outs away short with his left foot because Galway 'dropped off in the first half."
"Thank God they dropped off the first half."
"I thought these boys would see me strapped up and come hunting," added Hughes.
It came to a head towards the end of the game when Armagh over-loaded on the side of the field he couldn't kick to, almost giving Galway a chance to level the game up.
It was a promising opportunity for Galway as the ball broke their way from the kick-out, but ultimately Joe McElroy blocked Paul Conroy's shot and Armagh held on.
