After a magnificent AFL career spanning two decades, Shaun Burgoyne doesn't have many regrets in life.
Four premierships with Port Adelaide and Hawthorn, 407 professional games, a member of the All Australian team in 2006 and a proud Indigenous leader on and off the field - it's quite a resume for the man nicknamed 'Silk'.
But if the father-of-four could go back in time, he would have spoken out vocally against racism in society - which he first experienced as a child growing up in the South Australian fishing town of Port Lincoln.
Reflecting on his early years in his autobiography ‘Silk: Football, Family, Respect’ with sports journalist Martin Blake, Burgoyne said the experiences were difficult to comprehend.
'Someone might call you "b**ng", which was a nasty one, or "Ape". It happened all the time when I was growing up,' he recalled.
Retired AFL great Shaun Burgoyne with his wife and childhood sweetheart Amy - the couple have four children
'I wasn't the only one, a lot of my cousins experienced the same thing.
'Through talking to them and talking to your parents, you understand what it is and why people target you and see you as different because of your skin colour.'
Sadly, the racial taunts continued in Burgoyne's teenage years - and he often responded with his fists.
He recalled how angry he used to get and that his approach to the taunts was to 'just go "whack".
'I wouldn’t cop any abuse and my attitude was: hit first and ask questions later.
'It was something that we had to get used to because it wasn’t going away,' he said.
Burgoyne also revealed the guilt he still carries for not being more of an ally to his fellow Indigenous legend Adam Goodes, who paid a high price for his stand against the lingering bigotry in the sport from 2013 onwards.
The Sydney Swans star became disillusioned with the game he once loved when he started getting booed during games after he called out a teenage Collingwood supporter when she called him an 'ape' during a game in 2013.
Shaun Burgoyne is a proud family man with his four kids (pictured ahead of his 400th career game with his children Percy, Leni, Nixie and Ky)
When fellow Indigenous athlete Adam Goodes (pictured left) was racially vilified from 2013 onwards, Burgoyne has stated he 'should have stood beside him, not behind him' in his autobiography
As the confronting scenario took its toll, Goodes took 'indefinite leave' during 2015 - before eventually returning to finish his last season with the Bloods as a widely respected figure pushing for change.
When Burgoyne reflects on what was a tumultuous time for the sport, the classy former utility feels he should have done more at the time to back his close friend.
'We let him (Goodes) down,' Burgoyne said.
'He's a very courageous man. He took a stand and we should all applaud people like that and stand beside them, not behind them.
'As an industry
