Popular Irish podcaster named Packers’ nominee for international fan of the year
Stephen O’Brien founded the UK and Irish Packers Fan Club in 2013
YOUR FULL FORECAST OF SOME SNOW HEADING OUR WAY IN JUST A FEW MINUTES. >> AND IRISH PODCASTERS, THE PACKERS NOMINEE FOR THE NFL INTERNATIONAL FAN OF THE YEAR. >> LET’S GO THE LIFE OUT HERE. WHAT THE HELL’S GOING ON OUT HERE? HEY, WHAT ABOUT THAT? >> NOW. >> >> THAT IS ONE IMPRESSIVE INTRO THERE. STEVE O’BRIEN IS THE HOST OF EUROPE’S MOST POPULAR PACKERS PODCAST. HE ALSO FOUNDED THE UK AND IRISH PACKERS FAN CLUB IN 2013. HE’S ONE OF 32 NOMINEES ACROSS THE LEAGUE WHO WILL RECEIVE A TRIP TO THE 2026 NFL DRAFT IN PITTSBURGH, AND THAT’S WHERE THE WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED. WE ARE HAPPY TO HAVE STEVE WITH US HERE THIS AFTERNOON. JOINING US LIVE FROM IRELAND. GOOD TO HAVE YOU WITH US. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT ABOUT THIS HONOR? >> I WAS SURPRISED BY THE PACKERS. I WAS FOOLED. DEREK SENT ME AN EMAIL AND SAID, HEY STEVE, YOU WOULDN’T MIND COMING ON AND DOING A QUICK SORT OF, YOU KNOW, GIVE US YOUR HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SEASON. AND I SAID, ABSOLUTELY. AND THEN WHERE’S ROLL THE BALL OVER AND REVEALED THAT I WAS THE INTERNATIONAL FAN. AND I THINK I’VE BEEN FLOATING ON CLOUD NINE SINCE. >> THAT IS ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL. HOW DID YOUR PACKERS FANDOM BEGIN? WHAT ARE THE ORIGINS? >> THIS IS A VERY LONG STORY AND I’M IRISH, SO IT GETS LONGER DEREK. RIGHT. BUT I’LL TRY I’LL TRY TO KEEP IT SHORT. THE BIG EVENT OVER HERE IS THE SUPER BOWL, RIGHT. BECAUSE IT’S FREE TO AIR. WHEREAS TYPICALLY IF YOU TRY TO WATCH PACKERS GAMES, CERTAINLY WHEN I STARTED YOU’D HAVE A PAYWALL AND YOU KNOW, YOU’D HAVE TO GO SORT OF EVERY WHICH WAY TO TRY TO GET IT. SO JUST ONE OF MY FRIENDS SAID TO ME, HE WAS A BIG INTO AMERICAN FOOTBALL. HE WAS THE QUARTERBACK FOR MY COLLEGE. AND HE SAID, LOOK, PICK A TEAM. SO I DID. SO I WENT HOME AND DID MY HOMEWORK. I LOOKED AT THE LIST OF TEAMS AND I SAW THE FALCONS AND THAT’S A BIRD. I SAW THE LIONS AND THAT’S AN ANIMAL. AND I SAW THE BEARS AND THEY SUCK. SO I SAW THE PACKERS AND I WAS LIKE, WE DON’T HAVE ANY PACKERS IN IRELAND. I DON’T KNOW WHAT ANIMAL THAT IS. AND INSTANTLY IT BRINGS YOU TO THE ACME PACKERS, THE INDIAN PACKING COMPANY, CURLY LAMBEAU. AND THEN YOU GO INTO VINCE LOMBARDI. AND AGAIN, AS I SAID, I’M IRISH AND THE BLARNEY STONE HERE IS RIGHT BESIDE ME, RIGHT. SO I COULD GO ON AND ON. BUT JUST FROM THE HISTORY STANDPOINT. AND THEN OBVIOUSLY THE GREATNESS ON THE FIELD, IT’S A KILLER COMBINATION. AND I WAS HOOKED FROM THE BEGINNING. >> YOU’RE GOING TO FIT RIGHT IN JUST WELL HERE IN WISCONSIN WITH YOUR ASSESSMENT OF THE BEARS. I GOT TO ASK YOU THOUGH, WHAT IS IT THAT MAKES PACKERS FAN BASES SO GREAT? BECAUSE IT’S GREAT TO SEE THE PACKERS FAN BASE, GLOBAL. >> JUST WE’RE KINDRED SPIRITS. I FEEL LIKE THE IRISH PEOPLE ARE VERY LIKABLE WISCONSINITES. WE’RE FARMERS MOSTLY. LOVE A BIT OF CHEESE AND BEER. WOULD YOU BELIEVE. AND JUST A FRIENDLY ATMOSPHERE. CERTAINLY WHAT WE’RE USED TO IN SPORTS ON THIS SIDE OF THE POND, BOTH IN IRELAND AND THE UK. SOME OF THE MATCHES BETWEEN RIVAL TEAMS CAN GET A BIT CHIPPY AND A BIT, YOU KNOW, ROUGH. SO WHAT WE SAW WHEN WE WENT TO GREEN BAY WAS IS THAT, YOU KNOW, EVERYONE SAYS THAT THE PACKERS FANS ARE JUST SO WELCOME. AND THAT’S WHAT I SEE HERE. AND EVERY I BRING TOURS OVER TO GREEN BAY AND HAVE THEM FOR THE LAST DECADE OR MORE. AND IT JUST ABSOLUTELY SURPRISES ME EVERY TIME, DEREK, THAT EVERY PERSON ON THAT TOUR SEEMS TO HAVE THE SAME KINDRED SPIRIT OF JUST KINDNESS, FANATICAL FANDOM FOR THE GREEN BAY PACKERS, AND REALLY DO UNDERSTAND WHAT THE PACKERS ARE ALL ABOUT. THAT COMMUNITY SPIRIT, THE GREATNESS, YOU KNOW, GOING WAY BACK WHEN. AND OF COURSE, EUROPE IN GENERAL IS A VERY OLD PLACE. I CAN LOOK OUT MY WINDOW RIGHT NOW AND SEE A FIELD IN IRELAND AND, YOU KNOW, THOSE ROCKS AND THOSE WALLS WERE LAID BY SOMEBODY HUNDREDS OF YEARS AGO. SO WE REALLY GET A NICE APPRECIATION HERE FOR THE HISTORY OF IT. SO AND THAT’S WHAT THE GREEN BAY PACKERS ARE ALL ABOUT ABSOLUTELY STEEPED IN HISTORY. SO I THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, STRANGELY, ALTHOUGH WE’RE VERY FAR APART, I THINK WE’RE VERY SIMILAR IN A LOT OF WAYS. >> ABSOLUTELY. AND IN HONOR OF THE NOMINATION FOR YOU, THE PACKERS COMMISSIONED A MURAL IN YOUR HOMETOWN FEATURING DANIEL WHALEN, A PACKERS PUNTER WHO HAILS FROM IRELAND. WHAT DOES THAT RECOGNITION AND THAT MURAL MEAN TO YOU PERSONALLY? >> IT’S LIKE I KEEP TELLING PEOPLE, I FULLY APPRECIATE THAT THIS IS ACTUALLY A DREAM. DEREK, YOU ARE NOT REAL AND NOBODY’S REAL. AND I WILL WAKE UP EVENTUALLY, BUT I JUST DON’T WANT TO WAKE UP JUST YET. I WANT TO CALL THE DRAFT PICK IN PITTSBURGH AND THEN WAKE UP. LOOK, IT’S AN INCREDIBLE HONOR. AND TYPICAL OF THE PACKERS, RIGHT? THEY MANAGE TO FIND THE LOCATION IN MY TOWN. I DON’T KNOW HOW THEY FOUND IT. IT’S A SPECIAL GRAFFITI DEDICATED AREA. IT’S BESIDE A NATURE WALK THAT EVERYBODY VISITS. IT’S BESIDE A PLAYGROUND WHERE ALL MY KIDS, MY KIDS INCLUDED, HAVE THREE SONS. THEY GO AND PLAY THERE. THERE’S A SKATE PARK WHERE PEOPLE CAN BE SORT OF LITTLE REBELS IF THEY WANT TO BE, AND THEY MANAGE TO FIND A FANTASTIC ARTIST CALLED STEPHEN CONSIDINE, WHO WAS A WHO HAS AN UNBELIEVABLE STORY HIMSELF. HE’S FROM THE TOWN OF ARKLOW, WHERE THE MURAL IS, AND HE HAS THIS GREAT JOURNEY OF MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS. SO THE PACKERS MANAGED TO GO OUT AND GET SOMEBODY FROM THE COMMUNITY WHO CAN PAINT LIKE BANKSY AND LEONARDO DA VINCI. OBVIOUSLY, THAT LIKENESS IS UNCANNY. IT’S QUITE LARGE AND, YOU KNOW, THEY PUT IT UP ON THE WALL THERE. IT’S AN INCREDIBLE HONOR BECAUSE CERTAINLY IN IRELAND, LIKE I DON’T, I DON’T THINK I DESERVE IT, RIGHT? I MEAN, I DON’T KNOW WHO DESERVES A MURAL, BUT CERTAINLY IN IRELAND A LOT OF FOLK HEROES GET MURALS HERE. AND SO IT’S SEEN AS THIS MASSIVE HONOR. SO TO SEE MYSELF IN MY HOMETOWN WITH A MURAL LIKE THAT, WHICH I DEFINITELY THOUGHT WAS I INSULTED ALL MY FRIENDS UNTIL I DRAGGED THEM DOWN TO SEE IT. IT’S JUST SO FITTING, AND IT’S JUST A PERFECT ENCAPSULATION OF WHAT THE GREEN BAY PACKERS DO AND HOW THEY VALUE THEIR FANS. AND I’M ON. AS I SAID, I’M FLOATING RIGHT NOW. I’M ABSOLUTELY ON CLOUD NINE. IF I AND I AM, I WILL GET OLDER EVENTUALLY, I’M SURE. AND I WILL TELL PEOPLE THIS STORY THAT THERE’S A MURAL OF ME SOMEWHERE, AND I DO BELIEVE THAT THEY’LL SAY, YOU NEED TO GO AND LIE DOWN. NOW. YOU’VE HAD, YOU KNOW, YOUR HAPPY TIME AND YOU KNOW YOU NEED TO GO AND SORT OF RELAX BECAUSE IT JUST DOESN’T SOUND REAL. AND THAT’S JUST THE LEVEL THAT THE PACKERS TAKE IT TO. SO I’M JUST FLABBERGASTED. >> IT IS AMAZING. REAL QUICKLY, CAN I GET A GO PACK GO FROM YOU. >> GO PACK GO IRISH ACCENT. LET’S GO. >> ALL RIGHT. >> STEVE O’BRIEN, NOMINEE FOR INTERNATIONAL FAN OF THE YEAR. JOINING US LIVE FROM IRELAND. GREAT TO HAVE YOU AND HOPE TO SEE YOU STATESIDE HERE. AND GOOD LUCK ON THE NOMINATION. AND O’BRIEN’S GOING TO FIND OUT IF HE’S THE WINNER THIS YEAR OF THE INTERNATIONAL FAN OF THE YEAR CONTEST AT THE NFL DRAFT IN PITTSBURGH.
Popular Irish podcaster named Packers’ nominee for international fan of the year
Stephen O’Brien founded the UK and Irish Packers Fan Club in 2013
Updated: 11:05 PM CST Feb 24, 2026
The Green Bay Packers nominated a popular Irish podcaster as their nominee for the NFL’s International Fan of the Year.Stephen O’Brien founded the UK and Irish Packers Fan Club back in 2013, and it’s since grown into the biggest Green and Gold fan groups outside the U.S. Every year, O’Brien organizes a group trip to Lambeau Field, even crowdfunding to help one lucky cheesehead take a trip to Titletown for free.As part of the honor, the team commissioned a mural of the superfan in his hometown of Arklow, County Wicklow. The giant painting also features Packers punter Daniel Whelan, who’s also from the Irish area.O’Brien also gets a ticket to the 2026 NFL Draft in Pittsburgh, where the NFL International Fan of the Year will be crowned. You can watch the event, starting April 23 on WISN 12 News.
The Green Bay Packers nominated a popular Irish podcaster as their nominee for the NFL’s International Fan of the Year.
Stephen O’Brien founded the UK and Irish Packers Fan Club back in 2013, and it’s since grown into the biggest Green and Gold fan groups outside the U.S. Every year, O’Brien organizes a group trip to Lambeau Field, even crowdfunding to help one lucky cheesehead take a trip to Titletown for free.
As part of the honor, the team commissioned a mural of the superfan in his hometown of Arklow, County Wicklow. The giant painting also features Packers punter Daniel Whelan, who’s also from the Irish area.
O’Brien also gets a ticket to the 2026 NFL Draft in Pittsburgh, where the NFL International Fan of the Year will be crowned. You can watch the event, starting April 23 on WISN 12 News.