The surgeon delivered a stark message to Paddy McBrearty following his fourth operation on his left knee in a decade last October. It was time to consider hanging up his boots.
So there’s a temptation to feel sympathy for the 32-year-old, who will be a notable absentee from the Donegal squad when they take to the pitch for Sunday’s NFL Division 1 final.
Yet he had nearly called time on his career himself at the conclusion of Donegal’s disastrous 2023 campaign, when prospects appeared particularly grim and uncertain. That season saw Donegal drop out of Division 1, suffer defeat to Down in Ulster, and endure a heavy loss to Tyrone in the All-Ireland series.
The fact he secured two additional Ulster titles before stepping away, serving as Donegal captain in both campaigns, suggests McBrearty ultimately achieved a satisfying conclusion to his career.
It was his determination that eventually persuaded Jim McGuinness to take up the Donegal manager’s role again for 2024.
Had he not gone to such extraordinary measures, turning up unannounced at his former manager’s home the morning following Donegal’s 2023 Championship elimination, these triumphant times likely wouldn’t have materialised.
McBrearty, who captained the side in 2023, reflected: “It was a difficult period, standards had slipped big time. I suppose the position I was in, I took it really, really to heart.
Donegal’s Paddy McBrearty and Michael Murphy celebrate in the dressing room with the Ulster GAA Senior trophy (Image: ©INPHO/Ben Brady)
“You learned a lot that year. You knew who was in it for the right reasons and who was only in it for the good days. That’s when you know the really, really good lads.
“Personally, if Jim wasn’t going to come back in at the end of the 2023 season, I probably would have thought about retiring then.
“Because I was coming off a really serious hamstring injury, my business was starting at that stage and I wanted to give that a proper rattle. I wasn’t going to stay on for a rebuild.
“I was glad to get two more years out of it. I had 13 years done at that stage in 2023.”
Yet the surgeon’s verdict proved difficult to digest last October, following the procedure in Santry. At that time, the rest of the Donegal squad were enjoying Cancun, their prize for making the All-Ireland final.
The 32-year-old GAA+ pundit for 2026 explained: “It was my fourth surgery on the left knee. I partially tore my cruciate back in 2015 and completely ruptured the cruciate badly in 2018. I came back and got a few years out of it.
“At the end of 2024, I had to go in and get a cartilage repair, meniscus repair. Halfway through the season last year, it was just wear and tear basically, but I didn’t want to know the nature of the injury until after the season.
“I got a scan, bit of damage, got the meniscus cleaned again, got the cartilage cleaned up again. The surgeon then came out and said, ‘Listen, there’s extensive damage there. You need to have a few thoughts about the future. What do you want life to look like at 40?’
Paddy McBrearty(Image: ©INPHO/James Crombie)
“That’s what his exact words were, ‘What would you like your Tuesdays and Thursdays to look like?’
“I said I would like if I was fit to be able to play a bit of astroturf. He said, ‘Well, these are the things you need to consider then’. I took his words on board, got a second opinion, same kind of diagnosis.
“I don’t think I would have contributed a lot this year, to be honest, by the time I got back and was up to the pace of it.”
Under marginally different circumstances, McBrearty might have concluded his career with a memorable finale – leading Donegal as captain to All-Ireland final victory over Kerry last July.
He reflected: “We didn’t get a lot wrong on the day. Obviously I would say there’s a few things that would be changed. We lost the game by 10 points but there was 10 minutes to go and we were only a few points down. I remember I missed a shot into the Canal End.
“I’ve thought about it a lot since, it was a shot that I should have nailed.”
Such are the lingering regrets that defeated All-Ireland finalists must endure. Even securing Sunday’s Division 1 title against Kerry wouldn’t necessarily provide significant closure for them, though it would signal their ambitions for the summer ahead.
McBrearty added: “We had a really good year last year but there was a lot of hurt there as well and a lot of the team would have carried that through the winter. It’ll be interesting to see how they get on on Sunday. I’d say Donegal will want to lay down a marker.”