Rory Grugan's Armagh career started 15 years ago with 70 minutes of McKenna Cup action and his manager Paddy O'Rourke using his post-match media scrum to compare him to Marty Clarke.
The Down leftie was one of the hottest names in football at the time, having come so close to dragging the Mourne County to a shock All-Ireland a few months previously. As far as potential player correlations go, it seemed a heavy burden to place on the Ballymacnab youngster.
Now as the All-Ireland winner tries to adapt to life without county football - something that's been present in nearly half of his 35 years on this earth - O'Rourke can take solace from being right.
Grugan was a linchpin of Armagh's acceleration under Kieran McGeeney, moving from a side that yo-yoed between Division 2 and 3 to being deemed one of the best in the country over the last five years, with Celtic Cross and Ulster medals to show for it.
All things come to an end though and with Grugan and fellow 2009 All-Ireland Minor winner James Morgan departing, and more to come in the coming weeks, that 2024 team has lost a lot of names, albeit the Crossmaglen defender left the squad mid-season in '24 before returning last year.
After the 2025 campaign, Stefan Campbell, Jemar Hall, Ciaron O'Hanlon (now coached by Clarke at Killeavy), Niall Rowland, Ciaran Higgins and Shane McPartlan all stepped away too.
It feels like the end of an era for the team, and Grugan is in reflection mode. Ever since informing 'Geezer' of his decision, he's found himself scanning old photographs of the highs and lows down through the years.
Injuries sped up his decision. A minute after Aaron McKay's ultimately match-winning goal in the '24 final, Grugan and Rian O'Neill tried to shepherd Galway's Céin D'Arcy out of play at the juncture where the Hogan sideline meets the Nally Terrace.
Nothing noticeable happens apart from a grimace on Grugan's face but he couldn't continue and was carted off. Adrenalin got him through the next 72 hours but on the Thursday after the final, a scan revealed he had torn his posterior cruciate ligament. When he finally got over that, an Achilles' flare up saw him sidelined once again. His knee is currently giving him bother.
"I want to get this all cleared up and give it a proper run at pre-season (with the club)," Grugan told RTÉ Sport.
"Since that final it's been on-off, on-off with big injuries. I've been fortunate in my career not to have too many injuries, outside of the odd ankle or hamstring short-term, but that hasn't been the case lately.
"It's only when you're not playing that you miss it. When you get older, you feel that the years are slipping away from you. You get awful jealous watching club championships at the minute."
No player is ever happy with their lot, but given the team Grugan joined in 2011, to win provincial and All-Ireland titles was a brilliant return.
Division 1 football in his first two seasons saw him learn his trade against the best, but it would be another nine seasons before the Ulster county returned to the top flight.
Since 2021 though, Armagh have been dining at the top table with a still astonishing four penalty shootout losses - two in Ulster finals and two in All-Ireland quarter-finals - preventing the side from doing even more.
"It's only when you get to look back on it at the end of a cycle that you appreciate how competitive we have been," Grugan said.
"All players want the medals to show for it at the end. There were enough sob stories when things went against us so it's nice for us to close the circle with us older boys getting the Ulster title this season."
There's a book somewhere in this Armagh team. Anguish that would have given Mayo's house of pain a run for its money but, until this year at least when the Connacht side thrilled the nation, had the redemption arc of that 2024 triumph.
Incredibly, that was the only time in 15 years that Grugan got past the All-Ireland quarter-final stage.
A chapter would have to be dedicated to McGeeney surviving a vote to remain in charge ahead of that All-Ireland winning season. While the end result was a comfortable 46-16 in his favour, a number of clubs did vote for change - something that horrified Grugan and the squad who were left feeling utterly helpless as they awaited the result.
"I just have so much respect for him as a manager, but also as a friend," Grugan said.
"You build that relationship over the years and stepping away, it's so hard because of him. You feel such a connection to the team and there's a sense of not wanting to let him down.
"There's always that argument, can you still add value? He probably thought I could, but that's just the nature of it.
"He always wants the best for his boys, the way he drove on the likes of myself, Aidan (Forker) was unreal. He supported you as a footballer yes, but later in life, he supported you in some really, really difficult times.
"I have so much admiration for that man."
Even in success, Armagh had to fight for similar admiration. When Padráic Joyce stepped away from Galway at the start of the month, it was oft referenced that the 2024 final was the one that got away. The Tribe County missed a series of shots and had a number of injuries, but the Orchard County could claim similar.
"There was a lot of goodwill and outpouring in the initial stages because we were the team who had all the heartbreak," Grugan continued.
"But within a few months it just seemed to turn. There was a quote in some coverage and it was 'ah, they'll not win it next year'.
"The rules changed then and it was almost made out to be a lucky All-Ireland even though we had been going toe to toe with all the top teams and just losing out on penalties.
"But Kieran seized on that as a way to drive standards and I think we were unbelievably competitive in 2025 for a team coming off their maiden win."
As one door closes, another opens for Grugan who has always had a transient career in education.
A teaching degree secured in Liverpool, an Erasmus year in France, a recent Masters in educational leadership and a link-up with the GPA for their legacy leadership programme.
One of the most exciting aspects of his journey was 10 weeks spent in France late last year coaching Gaelic football in clubs and schools through the medium of French - essentially the guinea pig for a project with Gaelic Games Europe deemed as "spreading the GAA gospel".
Now he has linked up with Camlough's Nicola Sloan with the co-directors building a portfolio in Ulster for Kip McGrath centres – providing English and maths tutoring at bases in Belfast, Portadown and, more recently, Newry.
"I'll still be doing a bit of tutoring but it's also giving me a chance to work on the everyday running of it too, timetables, liaising with parents, working with tutors and the admin that comes with it.
"I'm trying to develop my business side of it and Nicola is super. We're hoping we can grow and expand it over the years to come with even more centres."
A bit more time will be on his side to focus on other aspects of his life now. After 15 years, the Armagh circle has been completed.
