In a wide-ranging chat about Kilkenny's legendary sportspeople, nine-time All-Ireland winner Tommy Walsh explained on OTB AM why DJ Carey holds a special place in his memory.
To some surprise, it was decided on Monday's OTB AM that Kilkenny's sporting 'Mt Rushmore' would carry only one hurler upon construction. Although the presence of camogie legend Angela Downey realistically allotted Gaelic games half of the given four positions, it wasn't so much about who was chosen as who was omitted that rankled.
Despite all that they achieved between them for Kilkenny hurling, neither Brian Cody nor Henry Shefflin were selected. Instead, the task of representing the county's rich tradition in this sport would fall squarely on the shoulders of DJ Carey.
As Tommy Walsh explained earlier on in Monday's show, however, it was the kind of responsibility Carey would be well able to handle.
"He would win a match out of nowhere for you," recalled Walsh of his former teammate Carey. "I remember a Leinster semi-final in Croke Park around 1991 where Wexford were beating us by about five points or so.
"I had a lift home organised - I won't say with who - but we were leaving early anyway. As we were about down by the Sunset House we heard these roars and roars coming from Croke Park. We still assumed Kilkenny must have been beaten like.
"It was only when we were a bit further down the road that we heard DJ had gone and buried the ball in the back of the net. He mightn't be in a game for 50, 60 minutes sometimes, but you just never knew what he would do next."
Twice an All-Ireland winner with Kilkenny (1992, 93) before Brian Cody's appointment as senior boss in late 1998, DJ Carey would play a pivotal role in those early years of that ongoing reign.
Hurler of the Year in 2000 and a general menace for Kilkenny's opponents as the county successfully navigated their exit from the relative equality of hurling throughout the 1990s, Walsh got to have a good look at what Carey could do.
"You'd nearly forget how great DJ was," he stressed in hindsight. "At your average county final in Kilkenny like, you might get around 10,000 people at it.
"When DJ and the Young Irelands club from Gowran were in a county final, there would be at least 15,000 people at it. People used to come down from the Glens of Antrim, from Galway, Cork, Tipperary, from all over Ireland just to see DJ.
"He had that exhilarating pace and his speed was just incredible. Eddie Brennan had the nickname 'Fast Eddie', but DJ was even faster again. He was probably the most exciting player we've watched because when he got the ball he could take on four or five lads and stick the ball in the back of the net."
You can watch Tommy Walsh talking in full about Carey, Henry Shefflin, Brian Cody, JJ Delaney, Angela Downey and more here.
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