Eighteen years on, the decorated umpire has had no such thoughts as he prepares to this weekend become the third umpire in VFL/AFL history to notch 400 career games.
McBurney will join Hayden Kennedy (495 matches) and Rowan Sawers (410) as the only others to reach the mark.
It will also be one of his last after announcing to his peers his intentions to retire at the end of the season.
"If my season's over in two, four or six weeks I'll have finished on a really good note having done my 400th game," McBurney said.
A crime examiner by trade, the umpire known to his mates as 'Jack' spoke on Tuesday of his "enjoyable" career, capped off selection for the 2002, 2003, 2007 and 2009 Grand Finals.
After turning 45 at the end of last season, McBurney undertook a rigorous 76-day running program in the pre-season to earn a spot on this year's list and prove he could still go with the younger umpires.
"They're very clear on benchmarks. We have to run five kilometres in 18:45 (minutes) and the previous year I'd just scraped through and I didn't want to do that again.
"The last thing I wanted to do was take up a spot on the list that I didn't feel I deserved … it's very important for the group that we all earn our place."
He believes the AFL will employ full-time umpires "in the next five to 10 years" as it became increasingly difficult to juggle football with part-time work.
AFL umpire manager Jeff Gieschen paid tribute to McBurney as "a very strong and capable" communicator.
"It's recognised throughout the group that Steve probably carries the best knowledge of the rules and interpretation of the game," Gieschen said.
McBurney will run out for the 400th time in the Carlton-Richmond clash at the MCG on Saturday afternoon, a venue at which he has umpired 139 games.
For the record, he rates both Gary Ablett senior and junior, Tony Lockett and Paul Kelly as among the best players he has umpired since his 1995 debut.
McBurney will feature in this week's edition of the AFL Record.
