Kerry star Tadhg Kennelly says the furore over his All-Ireland final 'challenge' on Cork's Nicholas Murphy, and the details to emerge from his autobiography in a Sunday newspaper, have led to his worst few days since the death of his father.
Extracts from the book suggested that Kennelly intentionally went out to strike a Cork player in order to 'lay down a marker.' However, he now says that the words used in the book did not properly represent what happened at Croke Park, nor his intentions, yet the first time he saw the comments in printed form were last Sunday.
"This is the worst few days since my dad died," said the 28-year-old. "I desperately wanted to win an All-Ireland for him. I wouldn't go out to deliberately do anything to sully his memory, or the good name of Kerry football. And I never have. I'm not that kind of footballer."
In his official statement, Kennelly said: “I admit I have made a mistake and a big one. I should never have allowed the piece regarding the incident with Nicholas to be described in the fashion it was.
“I gave an interview to the Australian ghost writer Scotty Gallon just a couple of days after the All-Ireland. I didn’t read it over as I should have, and the first account I saw of the incident was on last Sunday morning.
“Scotty used an expression ‘cop that’ to describe my feelings immediately after I connected with Nicholas. I said no such thing. I’m sure Nicholas can confirm that, and, yes, I did explain to him what happened after the match.
“The Wednesday after the All-Ireland was a rush. We had a deadline to meet. Books don’t get formatted and printed overnight. I was on a high and the last thing I wanted was to talk to Scotty over the phone. Looking back on it, I should have read a proof of the finished chapter. I didn’t and I paid the price. My fault 100 per cent.”