It was right at the end of a 30-minute conversation that Seamus Coleman made the revelation. Standing next to the indoor pitch at Finch Farm, the topic of life after football had been raised and Everton's captain had found a new perspective.
We had met to discuss a significant landmark in his career. Coleman had just celebrated his 10th anniversary as an Everton player and what a journey it had been for him: he arrived as young boy from Sligo, riven with homesickness, but had become one of the Premier League's finest right-backs.
Spending so long in this unforgiving profession hadn't changed his values.