“That’s what this draft is ultimately about. It’s about community.”
Usually, nothing could be further from the truth, because when the NFL’s 32 teams gather to conduct their three-day Player Selection Meeting, it is a fiercely competitive exercise with teams doing whatever they can to improve themselves, and if a chance arises to stick it to their competition along the way, well that can be a bonus.
But it was a different view of the NFL Draft that was the focus of a news conference Thursday afternoon at Acrisure Stadium. This was about bringing the NFL Draft to Pittsburgh and taking on the joyful challenge of hosting such a mega-event, which after the league’s official announcement the previous day, is going to happen in April 2026.
“Yesterday when they announced this at the League Meeting, the first thing they did was put the logo up in front of us,” said Steelers President Art Rooney II, “and when I saw that I said, ‘This is really happening.’ It was great to see that.”
Indeed, it will be happening, and with Governor Josh Shapiro, County Executive Sara Innamorato, Mayor Ed Gainey, and VisitPITTSBURGH President/CEO Jerad Bachar also in attendance what was said into the microphone was more about taking an opportunity to share in the excitement of the NFL bringing its marquee offseason event to Pittsburgh. It was a show of support.
“Indeed, a great day for Pittsburgh,” said Shapiro, who went on to thank both Innamorato “for putting a great package together,” and Gainey, “who said everything right, did everything he needed to do to convey to the NFL just how serious Pittsburgh was about this.”
For 50 years, the NFL held its draft in New York City, eventually finding a home at Radio Music Hall, but then Commissioner Roger Goodell orchestrated a slice of promotional genius when the three-day event was turned into a traveling show that attracts hundreds of thousands of people to the host city and is viewed by 50 million more…
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