"It was our off day and I had just finished working out when I got the text. I was like, 'No way?' Then, like an hour later, everybody started congratulating me because they had posted the roster on the website or whatever."
Dan Whelan is recalling the moment he learned he would be the starting punter for NFL team the Green Bay Packers this year - and reflecting on his regular-season debut in last Sunday's impressive 38-20 win at the Chicago Bears.
Originally from Enniskerry in Co Wicklow before moving as a teenager to California, the 24-year-old punter thus became the first Irish-born player in the league since Neil O'Donoghue was kicking for the St Louis Cardinals back in 1985.