Three-day turnout in Detroit sets record
City saw 700,000 fans flock to event
DETROIT—TheNFLdraft has a new attendance record after more than 700,000 fans flooded downtown Detroit for thethree-day event.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer broke the news Saturday at Campus Martius Park.
“We have shown the world what the Motor City is all about,”Whitmer said.
While it will take years to know if this week’s picks panned out, there’s no doubt that Detroit made the most of an opportunity to host hundreds of thousands of fans and show 50-plus million viewers thenew-look city.
Motown beat Music City’s three-day attendance record of 600,000 set in 2019, when fans filled Broadway in Nashville.
The NFL did not charge fans to attend the event in Detroit, though the visitors and area residents were expected to generate more than $160 million in economic impact at sold-out hotels, packed bars and restaurants, and retail stores in the heart of downtown.
Twenty-plus teams are engaged in talks with the league to host a future draft, which is of particular interest in colder-climate cities that probably can’t expect to get a SuperBowl.
GreenBay is on the clock as nextyear’s host.
Stiggers joins Jets
With the last pick of the fifth round, the New York Jets selected a prospect who didn’t have a snap of college football experience.
Qwan’tez Stiggers planned to play at Lane College in Tennessee in 2020, but returned home that fall due to the death of his father in a car crash and the COVID-19 pandemic wipingout the season.
Stiggers played in a 7-on-7 indoor league in his hometown of Atlanta two years ago. Last season, the defensive back was the Canadian Football League’s most outstanding rookie after making a team-high five interceptions forthe Toronto Argonauts.
Stiggers plans to make teams that passed on him regretit.
“They’re going to have to payall year,” he said.
Mr. Irrelevant The Jets also made the
257th and final pick of the seven-round draft, making Alabama defensive back Jaylen Key the player known as “Mr. Irrelevant,” and hoping hehas a fraction of the success San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy has had since being the last selection in2022.
The sons of players
More sons of former NFL players were selected Saturday, including Jeremiah Trotter Jr. in the fifth round by Philadelphia,where his father was a Pro Bowl linebacker, and USC receiver Brenden Rice, whose father is Hall of FamerJerry Rice, going in the seventh round to the Los Angeles Chargers. The Chargers also drafted a player with a famous relative, taking Troy running back Kimani Vidal, a great nephew of baseball Hall of Famer Hank Aaron, early inthe sixth round.
Michigan draftees
The national-title winning Michigan Wolverines had the most players drafted, starting with Minnesota moving up to take quarterback JJ McCarthyat No. 10 overall.
Michigan finished with 13 players drafted, trailing the total of just three schools since thedraft went to seven rounds in 1994, including Georgia’s 2022 national championship teamthat had a record 15 playerspicked.