Michael Murphy says he's an 'all duck or no dinner' kind of guy and couldn't return to the Donegal se-tup under Jim McGuinness because he isn't 'all in' anymore.
Murphy, who captained Donegal to just their second All-Ireland success in 2012 when McGuinness was in charge, said he has had to be 'cold' when reiterating that his county career is over.
The powerful full-forward and former Ireland captain initially retired 13 months ago and insisted at the time that it had nothing to do with Paddy Carr taking over as manager.
Carr eventually departed in March following a difficult few months and with McGuinnes now returning for 2024, the hope was that Murphy may consider a similar u-turn.
But the 34-year-old Glenswilly icon dashed supporters' hopes of a glorious reunion with his long-time mentor.
"Being honest, when I finished up two years ago, I knew it was over," said Murphy, a pundit now, at the launch of GAAGO's 2024 schedule of fixtures.
"My reasons for leaving at the time, and they are still there, is that I wasn't able to give it the same level (of commitment).
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"That had nothing to do with managers, it had nothing to do with the playing group, it just came down to me and what I felt I could bring to the party.
"So even with Jim coming in, it didn't change. It didn't change one iota. I know that sounds fairly cold. But for me to give what's needed for Donegal, whether it was Paddy Carr or Aidan O'Rourke or whether it's Jim McGuinness, it's down to the hard question and I had to answer that.
"We (Murphy and McGuinness) chat and we do speak quite a bit, every other week. I know he's really, really excited by it. I know everybody in Donegal is really excited by it. But there's players there to go and do it.
"I'll try to give (help) in some other way, whether it's shouting from the sidelines or back in underage, I'll give in that way. But it won't be on the playing pitch."
Versatile full-forward Murphy, who debuted for Donegal in 2007 and played for 16 years, said he could still handle the physical demands of the game but not the mental ones.
"I did it one year where I came back in January, missed the start of the League and it just didn't work for me," he said. "It's all in. All duck or no dinner.
"Playing in McKenna Cup games, playing in National League games. That's how I felt I needed to prepare. That's probably down to my own head. It probably wasn't the best way to do things. But, for me, it was the way I had to do it."
One of McGuinness' first acts after returning to the Donegal job was to build a reported EUR55,000 privacy fence around their training pitch. Murphy agreed that the facility was 'extremely exposed' as it was and needed attention.
"Especially now, with the condensed season, like, we have seen there in the last year, the injuries hitting players and selections changing," said Murphy.
"Nine times out of 10, teams will play their A v B games with their setup for the match. So you'd imagine if you didn't see someone on the pitch, it would be valuable information. The whole context of the story there probably didn't get the full context."
Murphy will continue his role with pay-per-view broadcaster GAAGO and said that this, along with coaching, is where his passions now lie. He said that analysing top inter-county teams in last season's Championship was an eye-opening experience.
"I never seen anything like it, from Con O'Callaghan, Mannion, Basquel, the tracking and running was incredible," said Murphy of Dublin's forwards, explaining why he couldn't just return in a more limited full-forward capacity.
"The idea that you could throw yourself in there and just rest up, it's just not like that any more. The day a team does that, I think they'll be found out. Imagine the likes of Derry, with Conor McCluskey running you up the other way getting goals, it doesn't work that way."
