Adrian Fedkiw
Congressman Bob Brady leaked out the information in early July and it finally became official on Friday.
The NFL Draft is coming to Philadelphia!
NFL senior vice president of events Peter O’Reilly made the announcement during a press conference at City Hall and it’ll take place on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway from Apr. 27-29.
The NFL Draft was held in Chicago the last two years, and New York City’s Radio City Music Hall the previous nine years. The Eagles currently don’t have a selection in the opening round of the 2017 NFL Draft after trading it away to the Cleveland Browns in the package that landed them Carson Wentz.
“Are you kidding me, how cool is this,” an enthused Ron Jaworski asked as he took to the podium. “About a post pattern from here 80 years ago, the first NFL Draft was here and guess what? We’re back!”
It’s pretty freaking sweet Jaws!
“Philadelphia is a passionate football town and will serve as a tremendous backdrop for the Draft and provide a great atmosphere for our fans and incoming players,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. “(Eagles owner) Jeffrey Lurie has been a strong advocate and supporter of the draft on behalf of the City of Philadelphia throughout the entire selection process. We look forward to working with the Philadelphia Eagles, the City of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau (PHLCVB) to create a week-long celebration of football for our fans.”
Philadelphia, the home of the first NFL Draft in 1936, last hosted the 1961 NFL Draft, which was held at the Warwick Hotel. That draft technically took place in 1960 from Dec. 27-28.
“We’re very confident that Philadelphia will help take the draft to another level,” O’Reilly said. This is clearly a very passionate football town. This is also a city that is steeped with NFL history, not only tied to the draft, but tied to the history of our league. It’s also a city that like Chicago, sits within driving distance of nine NFL markets in a place where fans will converge.”
Philadelphia mayor Jim Kenney had a few words as well.
“Philadelphia knows how to put on big events. We saw this last month as the DNC (Democratic National Convention) was here,” Kenney said. “This is evident by our ever growing, overwhelmingly positive national and international reputation, which continues to attract more and more visitors to our city.”