Dessie Farrell has expressed his dismay with the manner in which Dublin's latest All-Ireland triumph has been received in certain quarters.
In a championship year like no other with a new manager at the helm, Dublin's footballers demonstrated their consistency in winning a sixth successive All-Ireland on Saturday evening.
After Pat Gilroy and Jim Gavin before him, Dessie Farrell, a player on the All-Ireland winning team of 1995 and a winning manager in the underage grades, led Dublin to yet another triumph at the first time of asking.
Speaking on Monday's OTB AM alongside the now eight-time All-Ireland winner Philly McMahon, Farrell addressed the wider concerns regarding Dublin's dominance of Gaelic football and how it has reflected on the achievements of this current crop of players.
"You disengage with that [debate] because it could end up being a distraction," he remarked initially, echoing sentiments shared by Dublin's Cian O'Sullivan with OTB Sports.
"I made the point after the game, and I know the players aren't in a position to say this themselves and by their nature they wouldn't, but I think a lot of the narrative is inaccurate.
"Having seen what the commitment and dedication is like up close and personal over the last 12 months, it is immense. I think there is a disservice done in many ways to this special bunch of players."
Joining OTB AM for a virtual visit of Temple Street Children's Hospital, Farrell admonished those who choose to treat Dublin's achievements as an aberration.
Along with the likes of McMahon, Stephen Cluxton, James McCarthy and others who have celebrated most of Dublin's All-Ireland wins across the last decade, Farrell believes they are due greater credit.
"They are a pretty phenomenal group in terms of how they keep applying themselves and can continuously go to the well and seek out more and more of themselves," he stated, impressed with what he has learned from working closely with the players.
"I'm sorry for them in many ways that that narrative is out there. We get it, of course, and it is important to have that debate about the future of the GAA and we don't want to stifle or stymie that.
"But in some situations I think it is lost what these great players have done and how they've become such a special group. It is a special era for Dublin football and I remember all the barren, barren years we had and this era [has produced] a special bunch and we are very happy to have them."
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