The countdown to the 2024 NFL draft in Detroit began Thursday with a community celebration in Campus Martius Park in downtown Detroit.
Speeches were made by local officials and NFL leaders, including NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, Detroit Lions owner Sheila Ford Hamp, Wayne County Executive Warren Evans and Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan.
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Detroit Lions fans braved the wind to support the selection of their city. Walter and Gwendolyn Smith, of Detroit, sported the Honolulu blue color of the Lions, their NFL team for over three decades. For the Smiths, hosting the 2024 NFL draft in Detroit epitomizes the city’s revitalization.
“It brings everybody back into town,” Walter Smith said. “It’s just following suit with what’s going on in the area.”
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The event was emceed by NFL analyst Charles David and featured the unveiling of a countdown clock in a 12-foot-tall aluminum gear statue, which will be moved Friday to the Esplanade on Woodward Avenue.
U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., was in attendance, standing with the crowd in the park before the event began. She said she is glad visitors will come to Detroit and see how loyal Detroit Lions fans are.
“They’ll see the spirit of strength and resiliency,” Dingell said. “I’m just glad to be with people that love our town.”
Goodell was greeted by a few boos from the crowd when he was introduced, a tradition of football fans during the NFL draft. He highlighted the number of visitors the NFL draft brings to its host city. In 2019, Nashville received over 600,000 visitors for the NFL draft.
Goodell said the three-day event would bring at least $200 million in revenue to the city, in addition to media exposure and visibility.
Notably absent was any announcement of corporate sponsors. Duggan told reporters the officials present at the event were heading into a closed-door session to discuss corporate sponsorship.
Downtown Detroit Partnership CEO Eric Larson said corporate partnerships would be announced over the coming year. He said he expects that Ford Motor Co. will be one of those corporate sponsors.
“Ford Motor Co. is a huge sponsor of the NFL, so I’m assuming they are going to be all over this,” Larson said. “It’s the biggest event in their town, so I got to believe Ford is going to be very committed to this.”
Whitmer and Gilchrist both ended their speeches addressing the fatal shooting of an unarmed Black man in Grand Rapids on April 4. Whitmer promised a “transparent, independent investigation” by the Michigan State Police into the “horrific incident that is all too familiar in this country.”
Gilchrist echoed this sentiment when he spoke of the “responsibility that we have to one another to make sure that we protect and promote life in every opportunity.”
“We know that when we move forward together, we will live and dream together,” Gilchrist said. “And this draft represents that. It will be the culmination of that ambition.”
Elissa Welle is a breaking news reporter. You can email her at ewelle@freepress.com or find her on Twitter at @ElissaWelle.