Alongside Colm McFadden and Christy Toye, Kavanagh would have been considered one of the experienced members of the Donegal senior football panel in his final days.
[3] His haul of Ulster Senior Football Championships was a joint county team record (alongside such past players as Anthony Molloy, Martin McHugh, Joyce McMullan and Donal Reid) for four years until Patrick McBrearty, Neil McGee, Paddy McGrath, Leo McLoone, Frank McGlynn, Michael Murphy and Anthony Thompson surpassed it in 2018.
Kavanagh won six Donegal Senior Football Championship (SFC) titles while playing for the St Eunan's club.
[12] Against Armagh in the 2004 Ulster Senior Football Championship (SFC) final at Croke Park, he came on as a substitute for the injured Christy Toye.
[18] He made his 100th appearance for his county in the 2012 Ulster SFC preliminary round match against Cavan, and captained the team in the absence of the injured Michael Murphy.
[19] Again against Mayo, this time under the management of Jim McGuinness, Kavanagh started at midfield in the 2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final.
[20][21] Speaking to BBC Radio Foyle from his team hotel in Dublin the following morning, he was still hoarse himself and described the win as "surreal".
[30] McGuinness also expected Kavanagh to eat half a tub of ice-cream if the player was not in satisfactory condition.
[4] He led the club to a first Donegal SFC title in seven years in his first season as manager, defeating favourites Naomh Conaill in the final.
He mentioned his wife on BBC Radio after winning the Sam Maguire Cup, explaining that the noise in the background was the sound of her snoring.