Listen to the full interview above via the podcast
Last time our own Colm 'Wooly' Parkinson interviewed Sean Cavanagh, it was directly after pundit Joe Brolly had been hugely critical of a last ditch tackle the Tyrone man made against Monaghan in last year's All Ireland quarter-final.
Not that anyone's forgotten but Brolly did come out with the line that "He’s a brilliant footballer but you can forget about Sean Cavanagh as a man," during his post-match tirade on TV.
The resulting publicity led to a furore about cycnical football and at today's launch of Newstalk's 2014 GAA coverage, Cavanagh admitted the fallout had been difficult.
"I generally don't get too annoyed about any pundits or media talking about me or my team-mates. But I think it was three or four days later when I realized the reaction it was still having through the media, on my family and on my work commitments," the five-time All Star admitted, adding that the foul was strategic but definitely not one of the worst in GAA history.
"There are much more dangerous things that happen in GAA. To be portrayed as a pantomime villain of the GAA and some sort of nasty character was something I found particularly difficult."
Cavanagh also spoke about the apologetic phonecall he got from Brolly soon after and recognized that the Derryman had spoken in the "heat of the moment" in his post-match comments.
He also feels that the black card will clean up the game from a neutral perspective but believes that it could also put pressure on referees.
He also suggested that teams will put men behind the ball to reduce the risk of picking up black cards.
