THE dinner table in the Fenton household might soon have to accept that Brian junior is the equal of any of the greats that played for his father’s native Kerry.
Brian snr is a former player with Spa in the Kingdom, and the banter at home has seen the son “constantly reminded that I wouldn't lace Jacko's boots!”
But if he’s not there already, he’s not far off. Four years in the Dublin team, the new PWC GAA/GPA Footballer of the Year has never lost a championship match and this summer set a scoring record of 1-13 from play for a midfielder.
The Raheny man, whose clubmate Brian Howard was named alongside him at midfield in the Allstar team, recalled his first sight of Jacko when he was a youngster, and says that “to even be in the same sentence as him is just very, very incredible.”
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“I remember standing outside Jimmy O'Brien's bar years ago before a Munster Final and Jacko walked by and I just thought he was floating on air.
“I obviously never saw him play but he was always the gold standard and benchmark and historically the best footballer and midfielder of all time.
“Look, I'm still young and I'm still passionate and hungry for more. I'm not going to put the feet up yet and I'm not going to sit up on the high-stool just yet. I'm going to drive it on for next year and hopefully set another level for myself.”
Fenton saw off the challenge of team-mates Ciaran Kilkenny and Jack McCaffrey, who had been the last Dub to win the award three years ago.
He admitted that going up against the pair of them made his success “bittersweet”.
“I recently rediscovered a picture of the three of us playing together at U12. It was a North Dublin development squad at the time and in the team-photo is myself, Ciaran and Jack, so that shows just how far back we go together.
“Jack didn't play much in the League but was Man of the Match in the semi-final and final. And Ciaran just set the standard for all of us this year really, so I certainly couldn't have begrudged either of them this award.
“So, to win it is very special, but it is bitter-sweet because they're some of my best friends.”
Since making his championship debut against Longford in 2015, he’s won four Leinster and All-Ireland medals on the bounce and admits he’s slightly embarrassed by the notion that the unbeaten record is ‘his’.
“Jesus, it's almost a burden at this stage. Anywhere I go, people mention it to me. It's not something I think of, I'm just fortunate to be part of a special Dublin team. I'm one of 30 men that plays and that's their record rather than my record.
“Look, it's amazing and something I'll maybe think of later in life but it's not something I think of now or something I'm trying to uphold. Sport is a funny game and so is life. There are no guarantees, we'll see what happens.”
