ARLINGTON, Texas – Former UC Davis All-American punter Daniel Whelan wasted no time making an immediate impact in his first full professional season. Whelan was one of seven D.C. Defenders to be named to the 2023 All-XFL Team that the league office unveiled on Monday.
Whelan has put together an impressive rookie campaign as the Defenders enter the XFL Championship Game after posting the best regular season record in the XFL with a 9-1 mark.
En route to earning All-XFL honors, Whelan beat out former NFL punting yards leader Marquette King and five-year NFL veteran Brad Wing.
The former finalist for FCS Punter of the Year finished the XFL regular season ranked third in punting average at 45.6 per kick.
On top of ranking third in punting average, Whelan drilled 11 punts inside the 20, which also ranked third and he booted a long of 66 yards.
The Defenders are set to play for a championship as they will face the Arlington Renegades on Saturday, May 13 at The Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas at 5 p.m. PT. The game will air nationally on ABC.
Whelan helped D.C. get to the title game as the Defenders downed the Seattle Sea Dragons, 37-21. In that contest, Whelan boomed his one punt for 57 yards.
During his time at UC Davis, Whelan was named a HERO Sports FCS All-American and a Stats Perform FCS All-American in 2021. He finished his collegiate career as arguably the greatest punter in Aggie history, averaging a school record 44.01 yards per punt and a single-season record 46.25 yards per kick in 2021.
Whelan had at least one punt of 60 yards or more in seven games that season and had 21 of 50 or more. The 6-6 punter also handled kickoff duties, with 37 of his 68 going for touchbacks. He earned All-Big Sky honors three times and garnered All-American accolades in two straight seasons.
At the conclusion of the 2021 spring season, Whelan earned first-team All-America honors from four organizations from Stats Perform, AFCA, HERO Sports and Phil Steele and was a finalist for FCS Punter of the Year after punting 17 times for 815 yards for a 47.9 average, tops among the Big Sky en route to earning All-Big Sky first-team honors. In 2019, Whelan was named to the All-Big Sky third team and nabbed honorable mention accolades in 2018.
