For whatever arguments might be about what Ugandan left-back Godfrey Walusimbi did on the field during his brief stay at Kaizer Chiefs, what is without doubt is what he carries above his shoulders.
Walusimbi boasts with wisdom when he talks and carries a the walk the talk touch with him.
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His words can sound occasionally measured but he showers piercing honesty when he gets into the mood through this conversation that begins with his response to why he suddenly retired just a year after leaving Chiefs.
"It was time," he laughs talking to KickOff from Kampala, Uganda.
Walusimbi hung up his boots from the national team in 2019 after a decade of piling up caps as a regular and then completely called time on his playing career the following year straight after having been with Albanian Superliga club FK Vilaznia Shkoder.
He joined Vilaznia after spending half a season at Chiefs where he made 17 appearances.
"I just thought this is about time that I retire and do something that will benefit me for the long term.
"At the moment, I'm into business and have started with my coaching badges having already done my CAF C Licence though I don't have a club that I'm attached to at present.
"I have also been doing a Human Resources Degree at the Kampala campus of the Ndejje University here in Uganda because I'm all about upskilling myself in relation to what I want in the future.
"You obviously have questions about why I'm doing HR, but I felt I need to upskill myself out of football with a qualification that will come in handy in the game as well as in terms of management.
"I'm in my first year now and this will be a three-year course because I attend classes over weekends.
"The value of education can never be underestimated and with me what is that after completing my Senior Six studies at high school in 2007 I got sucked into football which went on for 12-13 years.
"So, I'm back to being a student again," says Walusimbi.
Life after football
"This is always about how you manage your funds while you are still active.
"Your earnings from your playing days will give direction to what happens when you stop playing football.
"The problem with us soccer players is that we want to manage our funds ourselves instead of hiring people with expertise on such.
"We prefer managing our funds and we fancy a nice life, being extravagant and flamboyant, which are things that then lead to problems after we stop playing football.
"When we mismanage our funds, we then have everyone else to blame than ourselves.
"In football, it is always about choosing wisely where you put your funds while still active.
"Sometimes, it is not mismanagement but just the fact that we get little while we are playing so you cannot even save anything for rainy days or put anything away so that it can yield some profits for you.
"At times you try some ventures, and they turn out to be not as profitable as you would have anticipated, and you end up not getting a second chance.
"On some occasions the results become negative because of our own approach.
"As a player you must always be on your toes and be aware that you are not going to play football forever.
"The mistake that we make as footballers is that we get too comfortable while playing and forget that this is a short career.
"Whatever it is that you earn while playing especially at your peak should be channelled to projects that will generate income for you long term," says Walusimbi.
Investing his wealth
"With me, the first thing that I did was to build some small houses that people can afford to rent.
"I don't know how it happens in South Africa but here in Uganda you can buy land and wait for it to become profitable to either sell or build property.
"From just about all the money that I got while playing, I invested it in building some small houses that are still earning me some income every month.
"By the time I retired I had built six two bedroomed houses and they all had tenants and even up to now, I still earn me some income which helps keep me going.
"I still have some pieces of land elsewhere that I will develop in a business-oriented approach.
"Then on the other side I'm also involved in the business of printing, sourcing sports equipment and the like," says Walusimbi.
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