(WLUK) — Green Bay Packers punter Daniel Whelan has had a longer journey than most to make it to the NFL — in the most literal sense.
Whelan was born in Ireland and lived there until he was 13 years old, at which point he moved to California. And while his mom turned into his biggest supporter on his journey to an NFL punter, that wasn’t the case at first in high school.
“The hard part was convincing her to let me play, because she thought it was such a super dangerous sport, coming from Ireland to America, with the helmet and the pads and stuff,” recalled Whelan with a laugh. “So, we had to sit down with the head coach and he was convincing her that being a punter and a kicker is like, the safest position on the field.”
Following the 2022 NFL Draft, Whelan was first signed as an undrafted free agent by the New Orleans Saints, but he was waived before preseason. His first professional gig was when he joined the XFL made the All-XFL team. Whelan parlayed that success into being signed by the Packers to compete for the punter position in camp, and the rest is history.
Whelan became the first Irish-born player in the NFL in nearly 40 years when he won the Packers’ starting punter job and he has been an undisputable success story. His net punting averages for all three seasons he’s played in Green Bay are in the top four of the Packers franchise history — and his 2025 season holds the #1 spot.
Now, Whelan finds himself back in his native land as part of an NFL initiative to grow American football globally. He’s touring both Ireland and the United Kingdom.
One of his first stops was at a Gaelic football association, bringing NFL kicking to traditional Irish sports.
Irish-born Green Bay Packers punter Daniel Whelan visits an Ireland soccer club during a trip overseas to promote the Packers internationally, Feb. 17, 2026. (Photo courtesy: Green Bay Packers)
“They were super fans. They love football and we got a massive welcoming. I mean, so kind. They gave us backpacks jerseys. We did a little kicking thing out there. It was freezing, windy, typical Irish weather. And yeah, it’s super dope so far,” said Whelan.
And while playing another game in Ireland isn’t in the NFL’s plans at the moment, Whelan says he’s dreaming about it in the future.
“Obviously, my preference would be Croke Park [a stadium in Dublin], but I know that’s not happening this year,” said Whelan. “But hopefully in the future. London will be great. I mean, anywhere playing in Europe would be great. Any country is going to help grow the game, and Packers fans are everywhere.”
Whelan thinks one reason why the NFL is so popular there — and especially, seemingly, the Packers — is just how similar the fans are, even if their native games are different.
“Diehard fans. The public, everybody’s just in on it. The whole town revolves around the sport. And it’s the same in Green Bay,” said Whelan. “You just feel it. You feel it just walking around the street. Like, you know we got a game on Sunday or they have a match during the night.”
The NFL has been pushing to make American football a global sport for decades. There are nine international regular season games scheduled this year — more than in any other season.