NFL Draft sets attendance record with 700,000 people

Detroit. The NFL draft set an attendance record after more than 700,000 fans filled the streets of downtown Detroit for the three-day event.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer broke the news Saturday at Campus Martius Park. “We have shown the world what the Motor City is about,” Whitmer said.

Although it will take years to know if the selections worked out, there is no doubt that Detroit took advantage of the opportunity to welcome hundreds of thousands of fans and show more than 50 million television viewers the new image of the city.

Motown surpassed Nashville, known as the city of music, which in 2019 welcomed 600,000 people over the three days of the draft.

The NFL did not sell tickets to the event in Detroit, although area visitors and residents are expected to have a $160 million impact on the city’s economy.

Green Bay will host next year.

This year’s edition opened with the Detroit label on Thursday including rapper Eminem on stage and Hall of Famers Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson, as well as current stars Jared Goff, Aidan Hutchinson and Amon-Ra St. Brown.

As expected, the Chicago Bears selected USC’s Caleb Williams with the first pick and took Iowa forward Tory Taylor in the fourth round on Saturday. “Hey, you’re not going to get many points here,” Taylor said Williams texted him.

Williams was the first of five quarterbacks chosen in the top 10 of the draft, a record. In total there were 23 offensive players in the first round. But reflecting this moment, they didn’t take a running back until Carolina decided on Texas’ Jonathan Brooks at No. 46, there was another fourth-round pick for a total of seven over the three days.

Defense was the most important thing on the second day, with 20 players on that side of the ball chosen in the second round and 17 in the third.

With the last pick of the fifth round, the Jets went with a prospect who didn’t have any snaps in college. Qwan’tez Stiggers was scheduled to play for Lane College in Tennessee in 2020, but returned home after the death of his father. Stiggers played in an indoor league for two years in Atlanta and last year was part of the Canadian league.

The Jets also had the last pick of the seventh round that they used on Alabama defensive back Jaylen Key, who became the player known as “Mr. “Irrelevant”. Key looks to have just a fraction of the success since the 49ers quarterback was Mr. Irrelevant in 2022.