Pittsburg, PA
NFL Draft in Pittsburgh sets onsite attendance record, third-best viewership mark
A historic number of people flooded into Pittsburgh for the NFL Draft on Thursday.
Around 320,000 fans attended the opening round of the draft on Thursday night just outside of Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, which marked an attendance record for round one of the draft, ESPN announced on Monday afternoon. In total, about 805,000 people attended the three-day event.
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ESPN also said that about 13,2 million people tuned in to watch the first round of the NFL Draft on Thursday night, which made it the third-most watched opening round under the current format, which started back in 2010. Only the 2025 and 2020 editions of the draft drew a bigger audience on the first night.
The league said that a record amount of merchandise was sold throughout the NFL Draft weekend, too, though it did not provide a figure or metric there. The previous record on that front was set last season in Green Bay.
The Las Vegas Raiders used the No. 1 overall pick on Indiana quarterback and reigning Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza on Thursday night. Mendoza, who led the Hoosiers to the national championship earlier this year, was not in attendance in Pittsburgh. Instead, he celebrated with his family from home in Miami.
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The NFL Draft will be held next spring in Washington D.C. for the first time in modern history. It’s expected to be held on the National Mall. Washington D.C. held the draft one other time back in December 1940.
Pittsburg, PA
Overreactions to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2026 NFL Draft Class: Will Howard’s future, Omar Khan without Mike Tomlin, and more
The Pittsburgh Steelers had a 2026 NFL Draft that was, well, perplexing to put it nicely. There are a lot of ways to skin a cat when it comes to the draft process, and in three to four years, there’s a chance we look back on the class and the prevailing notion was dead wrong.
So today, we are going to name the three biggest overreactions to what the Steelers just did over the course of the weekend. Let’s jump in.
Overreaction No. 1: Max Iheanachor is another Broderick Jones
Look, if we want to reprimand what happened in the first round and the phone-gate debacle, that’s fine. But as Omar Khan said after the draft, the Steelers stuck true to their board and went with their highest rated player once Makai Lemon was poached by the Eagles.
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And yes, Iheanachor is raw. Yes, he didn’t start playing football until very recently and was mostly a soccer player. But the truth is, there might not be a tackle with higher potential and a greater ceiling than Iheanachor.
The feet, the length, the traits, it’s all there. Sure, the Steelers will need to be patient, but this isn’t a player who is fundamentally flawed the way that Jones was. This is a player who you don’t have to fix; you have to build up. So it’s far too soon to write off Iheanachor.
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Overreaction No.2: Mike McCarthy doesn’t like Will Howard
When the rhetoric coming out of Pittsburgh is always about how much the Steelers love Will Howard, and on day two, with their third pick in the draft, the Steelers take another quarterback that many view as a reach, it’s easy to see why some may believe that McCarthy doesn’t like Howard.
The truth is, McCarthy doesn’t know what he likes. He needs to see both Allar and Howard competing in a live environment before making any rash decisions. And when you don’t have an obvious quarterback of the future, taking as many shots as possible makes a lot of sense.
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Overreaction No.3: Omar Khan was carried by Mike Tomlin
If you look at Omar Khan’s draft history since he took over for Kevin Colbert in 2023, you see draft classes littered with talent and starters. And honestly, just about every time it reached Sunday of draft weekend, the consensus view was that Khan and the Steelers nailed the draft.
Well, the only obvious difference in the decision-making process this year was no Mike Tomlin. And under Mike Tomlin, the Steelers were at every big-time Pro Day, the Senior Bowl, and well represented at the NFL Combine. A lot of that changed this year, but it doesn’t mean that Omar Khan wasn’t heavily involved, if not making picks, before.
We’ll see if the media and fans, or Khan and co., are right in 3-4 years.
A woman has died, and three others were injured following a shooting at a bar in Vandergrift, Armstrong County, according to Pennsylvania State Police.
Troopers said they were called shortly after 1:15 a.m. Sunday to Niki’s Quick Six on First Street in Vandergrift for reports of shots fired.
A local police officer who arrived first found one woman dead and multiple people suffering from gunshot wounds, according to a public information report provided by state police.
The woman who died was identified as Jessica Hilliard, 34, of Apollo. Hilliard was pronounced dead at the scene. Another victim, Rebecca Boston, 24, of McIntyre, was found at the scene and was last listed in critical condition.
Two other victims, Hector Saballos, 34, of Vandergrift, and Dominik Dellach, 25, of Vandergrift, left before troopers arrived. Police said both were later listed in stable condition.
The suspect has been identified as David Dunmire, 36, of Vandergrift. Police said he remained at the scene and was taken into custody without incident.
An investigation determined that a physical altercation broke out in the parking lot outside the bar before Dunmire allegedly pulled out a firearm and fired multiple rounds, striking several people.
State police said they consulted with Armstrong County District Attorney Katie Charlton, who approved a criminal homicide charge.
The investigation remains ongoing.
Pittsburg, PA
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