KEVIN O’CALLAGHAN believes his absence from the Kildare set-up is down to his presence on social media.
The midfielder was a notable omission when Brian Flanagan announced his panel for the 2025 season.
O’Callaghan, 27, has confirmed to SunSport that he was logged out by the man who guided Kildare to an All-Ireland Under-20 title in 2023.
Flanagan’s tenure in the senior hotseat got off to a fine start on Saturday as his side recorded a 15-point win over Fermanagh in NFL Division 3.
But O’Callaghan is unlikely to play under the man who has succeeded Glenn Ryan for a four-year term.
And the Celbridge ace reckons off-the-field matters were behind Flanagan’s decision to cast him aside.
He said: “The only thing that makes sense to me is that my social media is the reason I was dropped.
“It couldn’t have been related to my performances. Maybe he thinks it’s something that would bring negativity to the group.
“I’m not sure but it’s the only reason I can think of.
“It was a shock to me. I was completely caught on the hop by it.
“I’d be the first to hold my hands up if my performances dipped but if anything I think they’ve gone the other way.”
O’Callaghan is categorised as a fitness trainer on Instagram, where his account has over 25,000 followers.
He usually uses the platform to offer online coaching and post healthy food recipes.
The social media activity has previously been described as ‘a side hustle’ by O’Callaghan, who works as head of sales for Fitness Equipment Ireland.
In a player profile for the match programme when Kildare hosted Cavan in last season’s NFL opener, he made ‘a joke that went viral’ with a reference to himself as an ‘influencer’.
O’Callaghan said: “My page was created as a free platform to help people lose weight and help other athletes, especially younger ones, who might not know certain things about the food and gym side of it.
“I’d like to think I’ve used my common sense in how I manage it. I’d never post after a loss or anything like that.
“I know when to keep the head down and not bring any negative attention to myself or the group.”
DOWNBEAT 2024
The 2024 season was a dismal one for Kildare, who were relegated from Division 2 before being dumped out of the Tailteann Cup by Laois at the quarter-final stage.
But O’Callaghan feels he played the best football of his career under Ryan, who stepped down following the five-point loss to the O’Moore men.
He was named Kildare’s Player of the Year for 2023 after starting all 13 competitive games that season as the Lilywhites were pipped to an All-Ireland quarter-final spot by Monaghan.
According to O’Callaghan, Kildare team-mates and the previous management ‘never had any issue’ with his social media endeavours.
He said: “I was Kildare Player of the Year less than 12 months before being dropped.
“In fact, I wasn’t even included in a training panel of 65 players. It’s hard to make sense of it any other way.
“Representing your county is a massive privilege that I’ve never taken lightly.
“I’m extremely proud to have done that over the last few years and there’s a lot of work that goes in to make that happen.
“I was taking painkillers for a knee injury just to get through last season and represent Kildare.
“I went off then and got the knee sorted so I would have been perfect for the coming year.
“I’ve just turned 27 as well so I’m technically coming into my prime.”
Flanagan, whose side will travel to face Sligo on Sunday, had no comment to make when contacted by SunSport.
O’Callaghan added: “All I can do now is put my head down, perform as well as I can with Celbridge and hopefully get back into the county set-up.
“I was a supporter of Kildare before I was ever a player so I’ll go back to being a supporter now and I still wish the very best for the team.
“Obviously I’m disappointed not to be there but I’ll be rooting for the lads anyway.”
