It's been a "rollercoaster" few weeks for Colm Cooper, whose retirement from inter county football came one week before Kerry's win over Dublin in the League final. "It was quite strange watching the boys in the League final against Dublin, not being part of it for the first time in 15 years," he said.

Colm was Marty Morrissey's guest on The Ryan Tubridy Show this morning. In his first broadcast interview since retirement, Colm reflected on a career that established him as one of the country's greatest footballers, and why he – reluctantly – decided to hang up his football boots.

"I'd love to play for Kerry for the rest of my life but unfortunately time catches up with everyone. I was getting niggles that I wasn't getting earlier in my career. I didn't think my body would put up with rigours of inter county training for another 5 or 6 months."

Colm also spoke about the sacrifices that inter county players make and the pressure of expectation. In one infamous incident in 2009, Manager Jack O'Connor, Colm and Tomás Ó Sé were dropped from the team for a breach of team discipline. They had both "had a few pints" in their local pubs while the team was in the midst of the Championship. "It annoyed me at the time for sure," he said, "I got a big shock when it made front page news."

"At the end of the day the GAA players are amateur players….I think Tomás was having a few pints in Dingle, I was having a few pints in Killarney. We didn't exactly kill anyone. I think at the time Kerry weren't going so well in the Championship and people latched onto that"

Colm said he understands why managers want their players to abstain from alcohol but "there's balance to be struck," he said.

"Fellas need to blow off steam every so often. The amount of time players are putting in, they're probably training 5 or 6 times a week and if you add in video analysis and gym and recovery there's a huge amount being put into it. They're putting their lives on hold."

Colm will continue to play with his beloved Dr Crokes club but he's looking forward to some of the perks of retirement from inter county football. "I might get the chance to go on a summer holiday for the first time in 15 years," he said.

You can listen back to the full interview by clicking here.