Daniel Whelan will be the first Irish-born player to line out in an NFL regular season game in almost 40 years after being named the starting punter for the Green Bay Packers.
Confirming the story reported in The Irish Times on Monday evening, Green Bay named Whelan on their week one roster after Tuesday’s deadline to trim squads down to 53 players.
The Packers had previously cut Pat O’Donnell, the only other punter in the organisation during the summer, on Monday. NFL teams only carry one punter on their active roster due to the specialised nature of the position.
Whelan hails from Eniskerry, Co Wicklow, where he lived until the age of 13. He attended high school in California after moving to the United States due to his mother’s job.
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The former St Gerard’s pupil attended the University of California-Davis before entering the NFL draft in 2022. Whelan has made a regular season roster at the second time of asking after signing for the New Orleans Saints last summer only to be released ahead of the 2022 season.
He spent the following campaign with the DC Defenders of the XFL, a professional league ranked below the NFL, earning a spot on the All-XFL team that recognises the season’s best performers.
When Green Bay opens its season away to the Chicago Bears on September 10, Whelan will be the first Irish-born player to play an NFL regular season game since Dubliner Neil O’Donoghue lined out for the St Louis Cardinals in 1985.
