ON A day when Kerry kicked fourteen points without reply to KO the All-Ireland champions, it was no mean feat to be one of the first players name-checked in the winning manager’s post-match press briefing.
Seán O’Shea and David Clifford laid waste to Armagh’s hopes of back-to-back Sam Maguire successes as they combined for an astonishing 19 points in the quarter-final a fortnight ago.
But when it came to highlighting individual contributions, Jack O’Connor started with two of the men he called upon from the bench.
The Kerry boss said: “The introduction of Paudie Clifford at half-time just gave everybody a lift because we know the calibre of a player Paudie is. Him and Micheál Burns really lifted the team.”
The elder of the Clifford brothers exerted the type of influence we have come to expect from a man who won his third straight All-Star in 2023.
However, given Burns was persona non grata when Armagh dumped them out of the 2024 Championship, his redemption arc has been much more than a minor footnote in Kerry’s season.
O’Connor added: “Micheál Burns had the game of his life. He came on and showed he’s a big player for us.”
During one of the most spellbinding periods of football that Croke Park has seen in an age, Armagh were haemorrhaging scores.
And Burns wasted no time in doing his bit to prevent Kieran McGeeney’s side from stopping the bleeding.
Just seven seconds after he was sprung into action at wing-forward, Burns was on the ball.
He weaved his way towards the Armagh goal from the left, bought space by selling Tiernan Kelly a dummy and sent over a point that pushed Kerry’s lead out to four.
The 28-year-old later raised another white flag as they set up a last-four showdown with Tyrone.
Kerry legend Colm Cooper, a Dr Crokes clubmate of Burns, said this week: “I’m glad to see him back. I think Kerry are a better team when he’s on the pitch.”
While Armagh were conquering the Kingdom at the semi-final stage 12 months ago, Burns was on a sojourn to Chicago.
He had not been seen in a Kerry jersey since he was withdrawn at half-time in the defeat to Derry in the opening round of the National League.
Burns featured in the 2022 final against Galway when O’Connor steered Kerry to Sam Maguire glory.
Under the same boss, he was man of the match in the victory over Donegal in the 2014 minor decider.
Despite reports he departed the county set-up of his own accord, Burns explained he would ‘never turn down a chance to play for Kerry’ while speaking to TG4 after helping Crokes to club championship success against Dingle last September.
He elaborated in an interview with the Smaller Fish podcast, saying he was deemed ‘surplus to requirements’ by O’Connor.
US TREK
After a few months of county action with Crokes, Burns went across the Atlantic. A summer living the American dream helped him to move on from his Kerry nightmare.
With the Wolfe Tones club, where Clare forward Eoin Cleary was a team-mate, he won a North American championship.
Cleary told SunSport: “The experience out there helped him because the Kerry situation would have been difficult for him personally. As you get to know any fella, he’d open up a bit more.
“And you could see the disappointment that was there and how much it meant to him to play for Kerry.
“His form in America was excellent and he brought that back with him to Crokes, which seems to have given him great confidence for the way he’s been playing with Kerry ever since.
“He’d say himself that going to America really stood to him. He probably went home in a more relaxed mindset than in previous seasons and it told in his form.”
‘VERY FRESH’
Pat O’Shea’s Crokes returned to the summit in the Kingdom for the first time since 2018 before being crowned Munster champions.
Former Kerry captain Fionn Fitzgerald was one of many star performers but none shone more brightly than Burns.
Fitzgerald said: “It was just a simple case of a fella enjoying his football. He was a huge part of what we were doing and there was a lot of trust put in him.
“Even from a coaching point of view, Pat would have been very good with him. That certainly would have helped him.
“He went to America and I know myself that when you’re out of the bubble, you feel very fresh when you come back.
“Getting over there for a while would have been really important for him. It probably just allowed him to breathe a bit more from a mental point of view.
“To be quite honest, the year out was nearly the making of him. It was probably very influential in allowing him to take stock and enjoy himself a little bit more.
“He was really hungry and I’d say he’s a much more mature person and player for the experience.”
CLUB CLASS
The importance of Burns to Crokes’ campaign was reflected in his selection as one of three nominees for the Club Footballer of the Year award, which was ultimately claimed by Cuala’s Con O’Callaghan.
Five weeks after the Killarney outfit lost a thrilling All-Ireland semi-final to Errigal Ciarán after extra-time, he was back in the frame with Kerry as he captained the side in the absence of Gavin White for the Division 1 clash with Dublin.
Burns has been named to start against Tyrone this afternoon. But regardless of how he is deployed, Cleary reckons he can have a major say in Kerry’s bid to land Sam Maguire on July 27.
He said: “Even if they want to use him off the bench, I think he could be to Kerry what Stefan Campbell was to Armagh last year.
“He’s capable of being a match-winner or being involved in a match-winning play.
“Obviously he’d be hoping to start but you can see why they’d value him off the bench as well because he just has that energy in abundance.”
Fitzgerald, who lifted Sam Maguire in 2014, added: “Micheál is a Croke Park type of player. It suits him there.
“He likes a kicking game and front-foot football, so the new rules and Croke Park really play to his strengths.
“Whether he’s starting or coming on, I think his maturity is such now that he has the ability to deal with all the different scenarios.
“He’ll handle whatever role he’s given and he’s been a great addition to Kerry really. In hindsight, he’s someone that they missed during this stage of the Championship last year.”
