Daniel Whelan (born 10 February 1999) is an Irish professional

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

punter for the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

UC Davis Aggies The UC Davis Aggies (also referred to as the Ags, Cal Aggies or Aggies) are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Davis. Eighteen of the school's 25 intercollegiate sports - baseball, men's basketball, men's cross coun ...

and was signed by the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

in . He has also played for the

DC Defenders The DC Defenders are a professional American football team based in Washington, D.C. The Defenders compete in the United Football League (2024), United Football League (UFL) as a member of the XFL Conference. The team was founded by Vince McMaho ...

of the XFL.

Early life

Whelan was born on 10 February 1999, in

Enniskerry Enniskerry (historically ''Annaskerry'', from ) is a village in County Wicklow, Ireland. The population was 2,008 at the 2022 census. Location The village is situated on the Glencullen River in the foothills of the Wicklow Mountains in the ...

County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606 in Ireland, 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the Provinces ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, and grew up there. He moved to the United States at age 13, settling in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. He initially played

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

(soccer) before switching to

as a

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

Rancho Mirage High School Rancho Mirage High School is a secondary school located in Rancho Mirage, California. The school is a part of the Palm Springs Unified School District. Rancho Mirage High School was founded in 2013. RMHS is a comprehensive high school offering ...

. He also played

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

in high school. He committed to play

for the

following his time at Rancho Mirage.

College career

As a true

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

at UC Davis in 2017, Whelan played five games, totaling 10 punts for 440 yards. The following year, he appeared in all 13 games while posting 67 punts for 2,756 yards (a 41.1 average), earning honorable mention all-conference honors. Whelan was named third-team all-conference in 2019 while having a 44.1 punting average on 57 kicks. In the 2021 spring season (postponed from 2020 due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

), Whelan punted 17 times for 815 yards, a

Big Sky Conference The Big Sky Conference is a List of NCAA conferences, collegiate athletic conference, affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I with college football, football competing in the Football Cha ...

-leading 47.9 yard average, earning four first-team

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

selections, a first-team all-conference selection, and being named a finalist for the FCS Punter of the Year Award. He handled both punting and kickoff duties in his final year, the fall 2021 season, earning All-Big Sky and second-team All-American honors with a school single-season record 46.25 punting average (his 47.9 average in the prior season did not qualify for the leaderboards due to him having not enough punts). He finished his stint at UC Davis with 151 punts for 6,523 yards, having the school all-time record with a 44.01 career punting average.

Professional career

New Orleans Saints

After going unselected in the

2022 NFL draft The 2022 NFL draft was the 87th edition of the National Football League's annual NFL draft, draft and was held from April 28–30, 2022, at the Caesars Forum on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, Paradise next to Las Vegas. The first round ...

, Whelan was signed by the

as an

. He was waived on 26 July 2022.

DC Defenders

Whelan was selected by the

of the XFL with the second pick of the specialists phase in the 2023 XFL Draft. He made the team and served as their punter in all 10 of their games as they went on to be league championship runner-ups, being named All-XFL after having an average of 45.6 yards on 29 attempts.

Green Bay Packers

On 17 May 2023, Whelan signed with the

after his time in the XFL, eventually beating out the incumbent Pat O'Donnell for the Packers' punting job. He made his NFL debut on 10 September 2023, against the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

, recording five punts for 249 yards while becoming the first Irish-born NFL player since the retirement of

Neil O'Donoghue Cornelius Joseph Dennis O'Donoghue (born 18 January 1953) is an Irish-born former professional football placekicker, who played nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Auburn Tigers and was drafted ...

in 1985. After the 2023 season, he was offered a tender.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Postseason

References

External links

Green Bay Packers bioUC Davis Aggies bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whelan, Daniel 1999 births Living people Irish players of American football American football placekickers American football punters People from Enniskerry UC Davis Aggies football players New Orleans Saints players DC Defenders players Green Bay Packers players Irish emigrants to the United States