Tyrone manager Mickey Harte has said it would not have been right if Seán Cavanagh bowed out of inter-county football following his red card against Mayo this year.
Many had speculated that the Moy man would walk away from the inter-county scene after he was controversially red card during his side's defeat.
Harte was speaking to the media on the All Star tour to Dubai, where he is managing a 2015 selection against this year's batch, who are under the guidance of Tipperary's Liam Kearns.
Paying tribute to his contribution to Tyrone football, Harte said it wouldn't have been right for the 33-year-old to sign-off in that manner.
Harte said: "I knew when he walked off the pitch that day in Croke Park, 'this cannot be the end of your career. This is not right'."
Highlighting the fact that Cavanagh has often risen above "plenty of treatment" during his career, Harte added that "it is definitely not right for him to leave the scene that way."
Despite that Mayo defeat, Harte said he was pleased with his side's progression after a year that saw them win a first Ulster title since 2010.
Having narrowly beaten Donegal to claim what was a first Anglo-Celt Cup for many of the Tyrone panel, Harte's men then lost out to Mayo by a point at the next hurdle.
Many punters had expected Tyrone, who were beaten semi-finalists in 2015, to be Dublin's biggest challengers for Sam Maguire, with the draw paving the way for a final meeting.
However, that was not to be as some poor finishing, coupled with the loss of Cavanagh, put paid to the Red Hand challenge.
"People always look for progression and if you're in a semi-final one year and a quarter-final the next year, it doesn't look like progression," Harte said.
"But in many ways it was because we had a lot of our players without an Ulster championship medal and until you achieve that, that's still to be done."
The question, he says, will be whether they can build on this for 2017.
While Tyrone's tactics and the loss of Cavanagh were the big talking points after the Mayo defeat, Harte said had his forwards eye been in, the result may well have been different.
"If we had kicked the ball between the posts and converted the chances that came our way, tactics would not have been the biggest issue here," he said. "It was actually finishing."
Having overseen the Tyrone side for a 13-year spell that has taken in three All-Ireland titles and five provincial triumphs, Harte is also well-versed in changes to the game in that period.
Despite claims to the contrary from some camps, he says inter-county football has not become a burden for players.
"I think it's overplayed that it's a chore," he said. "If that's the case I wonder why they go there [to training] - they should stay at home."
"There's no pressure on, but they like to put themselves in those positions."
