(Alt é seo ónár bhfoireann Gaeltachta.  Is féidir leat an bunleagan as Gaeilge a léamh anseo.)

HERE IN IRELAND we are well used to the “cúpla focal” – a few words of Irish -when the captain of a winning football or hurling team steps up to accept the cup.

Now it seems the “cúpla focal” has made its way as far as the biggest football competition in America, the National Football League (NFL).

The NFL Draft is a major occasion every year – a three day event during which the NFL’s biggest teams announce their chosen players from college teams, with those selected receiving playing contracts worth hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars.

This year Stephen O’Brien, a longtime fan of the Green Bay Packers — a team based in the city of Green Bay in Wisconsin that has won the Super Bowl four times and won nine other national championships— was given the honour of making the team’s sixth pick.

And not only did he seize the moment, but he made history in the annals of the NFL and in the story of the Irish language, speaking before a crowd of more than 200,000 in the stadium and millions more around the world in Ireland’s official language.

“For the first time in NFL history, I’m going to do it in my Irish language so bear with me,” he said.

Mar chuid de roghnúchán an NFL 2026, seo é cinneadh na Green Bay Packers don 201ú rogha, Domani Jackson, (CB), Alabama. 

Speaking to The Journal after the event, O’Brien — who was selected this year as the team’s top international fan from across the world — said he had founded the United Kingdom and Ireland Supporters Club in 2013 and that it is now the largest supporters club in the world for the team.

“The Draft is a massive occasion on the NFL calendar and it broke the attendance record this year, with 805,000 people attending across the three days in Pittsburgh and millions more watching on television and other platforms,” he said.

On his decision to make the announcement in Irish, he said he was a very proud Irishman. “I knew that the Draft had a global platform reaching millions of people and I seized the opportunity to put the Irish language in the spotlight on that stage.

“This has never been done before and it was historic that it was announced in this way in our native language.

“To make sure the translation was 100% accurate, I got advice from Conradh na Gaeilge beforehand.”

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O’Brien said the Packers hold international marketing rights in the United Kingdom and here in Ireland and, as a result, they engage actively with the supporters club here and he advises them on cultural questions relating to this country.

He also hosts events in Dublin and London, and a mural featuring himself and Daniel Whelan — punter for the Packers who visited Steve’s hometown of Arklow – has been painted in the town.

The Journal’s Gaeltacht initiative is supported by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme

This article was originally written in the reporter’s native Irish and has been translated to English here. AI was used as part of the translation process before final edits.