For more than 30 years, from his emergence in the early 1990s as hurling’s Harry Potter, DJ Carey has been a vector for rumour and gossip and tittle-tattle. In the beginning most of the stories that circulated were small-minded and petty, though sometimes they would be vicious too, delivered like a hurley-jab to the ribs. Were they true? All of them? Any of them? Carey’s denials were never the last word.

As the GAA’s first superstar, his name had a market value. On the field, he was a streak of lightning. Off the field, he was a clean-living, non-smoking, teetotaller with a soft voice and a winning smile. After matches he would be mobbed by kids looking for autographs. He obliged strangers and admirers with small talk. People were attracted to him. They wanted to touch the hem of his garment.

But he was also stalked by a faceless posse that Carey often described in interviews as “knockers”. Though they never confronted Carey face to face with their condemnations, he always claimed to know what they were saying. In the early 1990s the GAA’s puritanical objection to its players making a few bob from side hustles had started to crack, but it was still a divisive issue.

In those days, the accusations against Carey were that he was leveraging his name for money. On a completely different scale and with astronomically different consequences for him and his victims, that formed the central plank of his criminal scams over the past decade or more: he leveraged his name for money.

Carey celebrates scoring a goal in the Kilkenny v Offaly 2000 All Ireland hurling final. Photograph: Andrew Paton/Inpho

During Carey’s playing career, it was victimless. In the first flush of his fame, he was asked to go here, there and everywhere and saying yes seemed to be his default response. It sparked rumours about how much he was being paid for medals presentations or coaching sessions or cutting the ribbon on a new supermarket. The perception hardened, though, that he was hungry for public appearances, of all kinds.

Carey fought those flames for years.