Colm Cooper gives the reason for his retirement and recalls his Dr Crokes joy

Kerry's Colm Cooper has revealed the reason he brought the curtain down on his inter-county career.

Colm Cooper gives the reason for his retirement and recalls his Dr Crokes joy

Kerry's Colm Cooper has revealed the reason he brought the curtain down on his inter-county career.

The Kingdom star announced his decision to retire on Tuesday because he felt his body would not stand up to the physical pressures of another season with his beloved county.

The Gooch has had 15 senior seasons with Kerry in which he has claimed five All-Ireland titles and eight All-Stars.

The 33-year-old, who bagged an All-Ireland club title in Croke Park last month with Dr Crokes, said he was amazed at how people reacted to his decision to bring his glittering career to an end.

He said: "It's been strange. Twitter went into overdrive. My Twitter feed.

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"It's nice to get comments from people you played with and played against and people from different sports.

"It's very humbling. I'm amazed it got so much traction on every sort of media."

However, he added that it was a weight off his shoulders now that the news was out.

He said: "There's a bit of relief, a bit of disappointment, a bit of everything.

"You want to play for Kerry as long as you can but sometimes the body is telling you other things.

"I'm immensely proud of what I've achieved. If you told me starting out with Kerry that I'd achieve what I have... I'd have bitten your arm off for it.

The Gooch also spoke about winning his All-Ireland Club Football Championship title with Dr Crokes last month.

The Kerry side brought the Andy Merrigan Cup back to Killarney for the first time in 25 years in a tight game where they beat Slaughtneil of Derry, 1-9 to 1-7.

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Cooper scored a goal and two points that day, but it was a moment towards the end of the game that Cooper recalled.

The 33-year-old said: "When we got the sideline at the end, I just said, 'Well there's fucking no-one else taking this...' I was thinking if someone gave possession away, I'd regret it for the rest of my life.

"I ran over, I don't know was it David O'Leary or Fionn (Fitzgerald) was there, I took the ball and pushed them away. Looked up at the big screen. The Crokes management were all around me, hysterical of course. They were shouting at the referee, telling him to blow the whistle.

"And I remember the screen said 64 minutes gone. I just jabbed a short kick to Johnny (Buckley) and wanted him to pass it back to me so I could step down the sideline maybe. Before the ball even got to Johnny, the whistle went.

"Fuck it, elation, joy... I turned around, Pat was the nearest one there and he wouldn't be the biggest man in the world. I think I nearly body-slammed him to the ground."

Cooper said missing out on a medal with his club would have been "the biggest X on my career".

He said: "It was huge pressure. That's why I wanted that sideline. I was saying to myself, 'Once it's in my hands, I know we won't lose it...'

"Because I won't be giving the fucking thing away."

In the Irish Independent he talks about the Dubs, his managers and the family support during his career.

COOPER BY THE NUMBERS

3 – Division 1 medals (2004, ’06, ’09).

4 – Championship goals against Mayo, one in each game.

5 – All-Ireland medals (2004, ’06, ’07, ’09, ‘14).

8 – All-Stars (2002, ’04, ’05, ’07, ’08, ’10, ’11, ’13).

9 –Munster SFC medals (2003-’05, ‘07, ‘10, ‘11, 2013, ’15, ’16).

11 – His highest aggregate scoring total in one SFC game (2-5 v Limerick, Munster semi-final 2005).

11 – His total of SFC goals scored in Croke Park.

12 – League goals scored.

23 – Total championship goals scored.

60 – League appearances.

75 – Championship points scored against Cork.

85 – Championship appearances, third in all-time records behind Tomás and Marc Ó Sé (88).

164 – League points scored.

283 – Championship points scored.

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