Jack McCaffrey has confirmed that he won't be back in the blue of Dublin this season.
McCaffrey, who has spent the summer in Africa volunteering for GOAL, stated that while he does intend to return to playing, he won't be doing so this year.
Although he will return home ahead of the All-Ireland semi-final, should Dublin be involved, he decided he'll wait to re-enter the panel for the 2017 season.
Speaking to The Sunday Independent, the reigning Footballer of the Year said "No, I can’t see myself being involved at all this year."
He added that while the original plan had been to go to the United States for the summer on a J1 visa and just live the student life for a while, he couldn't turn down the opportunity to make a positive contribution.
"I was missing going over and doing a J1 and that, [but] when the opportunity presented itself to do this I jumped at it. If I am involved in football again, would I be glad to say the only summer I took off was to go and play football in America? This is a good clean break."
McCaffrey emphasised that the decision to take a break was not based on wanting to get away from the sport, but rather on the chance to put the skills and knowledge gained in his studies to use for a good cause: "I've loved every second of playing football since I was four. And you know that hasn’t changed since I became an inter-county footballer.
"If anything it has become more enjoyable. Look, I’m sure there are some players in some inter-county set-ups who aren’t enjoying it as much. But I can only speak from my experience and it’s been a great time."
Via Independent.ie
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