The NFL draft is the light at the end of the tunnel for many. No wonder Pittsburgh is a fitting host

PITTSBURGH -- The runway up to the NFL draft can feel endless for the young men who put themselves under its exacting process. Years of hard work followed by weeks of being poked and prodded, culminating in days of anxiety-inducing uncertainty while they wait for their name to be called.

The end finally arrives this weekend when the 2026 draft descends on Pittsburgh, a city that in many ways serves as a metaphor for the NFL's marquee offseason event.

The most direct way into town for many visitors is through a stretch of western Pennsylvania hills and anonymous suburbia before you descend — almost always in bumper-to-bumper traffic, no matter the time of day, for reasons that mystify even the locals — into the Fort Pitt tunnel, 3,614 feet of darkness that offers little hint of what lies on the other side.

Reaching downtown Pittsburgh, like reaching the NFL, takes patience. Once you get there, however, the reward can be incredible as the city — like each draft prospect's future — spreads out in front of you, rife with possibilities.

Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love, hoping to become the third running back taken in the top 10 in the last four years, found himself caught off balance when he made the trip in earlier this week.

“Nice views, nice views,” Love said on Wednesday, less than 36 hours before Thursday night's first round. “When you came out of that little tunnel or whatever, I don’t know what the tunnel’s called, but you kind of just saw the whole city. So that view was really nice.”

There's another view that will be more personally rewarding for Love and the other 16 potential first-rounders scheduled to walk the red carpet at Point State Park before taking a short ferry ride across the mouth of the Allegheny River to Acrisure Stadium, the home of the Pittsburgh Steelers: the life-changing walk from the green room to the draft stage to bro-hug NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell after being selected.

“I’m ready to go somewhere where I can work, whether that’s the worst team, the best team, maybe a team in the middle,” Love said. “Really doesn’t matter to me.”

Mendoza first, then what?

Where Love will go is still somewhat of a mystery. Where Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza is heading is not.

All signs point to the Las Vegas Raiders sprinting to the podium to take the Indiana star with the first overall pick, though Mendoza's meet-up with Goodell will have to wait. Mendoza is the rare top selection to choose to watch from back home rather than lean into the spectacle the draft provides.

What happens after that is anyone's guess, though the first round is expected to tilt heavily toward defense, with edge rushers Arnell Reese of Ohio State and David Bailey of Texas Tech — both of whom are in Pittsburgh — in the mix to become pros just after the sun sets over Mount Washington.

Asked whether the competitor in him wants to be the one to greet Goodell first, Bailey offered a hint of the mix of instinct and football smarts that helped him shoot up the draft board.

“When you talk about competitiveness in that context, it’s like really nothing you can do,” Bailey said. “Like I can’t go out there and do any special tricks or say anything that’s going to boost my draft stock. ... I feel like it’s time to just sit back and enjoy.”

If only because it means the endless cycle of misdirection and speculation — oh, and mock drafts, lots and lots of mock drafts — will finally be over and all involved can get back to football. It can be a lot.

Still, Arizona State wide receiver Jordyn Tyson gets it.

So yeah, it's a little strange to pose in your underwear in front of scouts, turn to your side and squat — as Tyson was asked to do at the NFL combine — but who is he to judge?

“(Teams) invest a lot of money, so they got to do the research,” Tyson said. “They got to take every little thing into account. So I don’t blame them for it, to be honest.”

Teams aren't the only ones who have to cover their bases prepping for this weekend. For the host cities, the draft can serve as a high-profile consolation prize in lieu of hosting a Super Bowl.

Pittsburgh's moment

The NFL expects several hundred thousand fans to cram into a city not exactly known for its wide-open spaces. To prepare, Pittsburgh's public school system will go to remote learning on Thursday and Friday to keep its buses off the roads, and many businesses are allowing employees to work from home rather than come to the office.

So yeah, the draft has changed a bit since the last time Pittsburgh held it in December 1947 at the Fort Pitt Hotel, which then served as the headquarters for the Steelers. That draft lasted 32 rounds. There was no No. 1 jersey waiting for quarterback Harry Gilmer when he was taken first overall by Washington.

It was not televised. It was barely even noticed. The tectonic plates around the draft have shifted considerably over the last eight decades.

Pittsburgh views the draft as a chance to point to the area's proud football history. Around two dozen Hall of Famers hail from Western Pennsylvania. The Steelers walk past six Lombardi Trophies on their way to work every day, and football at all levels remains a part of the firmament.

On Wednesday morning, Love and the other draft prospects hosted a clinic for kids following a ribbon-cutting for a new turf field at Hazelwood Green Park, about a mile down the Monongahela River from the Steelers' current practice facility.

For years, Steelers President Art Rooney II would stare out his window at the vacant lot and wonder when something would pop up in an area being revitalized by the tech industry and higher education.

Then the city was awarded the draft, and change came quickly. And so it goes in Pittsburgh, which in many ways has evolved from the Steel City of the 20th century into a modern hub of innovation.

The draft will be the realization of one dream and the start of another for the 257 players who will be selected by the time it wraps up on Saturday evening.

For the “City of Bridges," it will serve as an opportunity to showcase that while Pittsburgh's football roots run deep, it connects to far more than first downs and touchdowns.

“I think if you were going to pick a perfect time,” Mayor Corey O'Connor said, “this is the perfect time.”

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