NFL draft caps off wild week in Pittsburgh sports - ESPN

PITTSBURGH — As the sun started to descend behind an overcast sky Saturday evening, the Pittsburgh Steelers put a poetic bow on a weeklong celebration of the city's rich sports landscape.

With the final pick of their 10-man class, the Steelers selected versatile offensive weapon Eli Heidenreich, a Pittsburgh native who attended high school 7 miles from where his name was called in the seventh round of the 2026 NFL draft.

Wearing a new Steelers cap along with his service dress blues, the Navy product emerged from the hallway connecting the green room to the stage. He hugged NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and then twirled a Terrible Towel as he faced the crowd, which greeted him with a loud applause.

«I turned that corner, and you see the city skyline in the background, and then the crowd was 90% black and gold,» said Heidenreich, who was part of a small group of draft hopefuls invited to the green room on Day 3. «It was such a cool moment. Everything just came together.

»… I'm glad that this city got this publicity for the draft. I think people are finally starting to realize this city rocks. More people need to realize what goes down here. I think everything went right. For me to be able to go out there and contribute to that and be a part of this event was really special."

A record 805,000 fans flooded Pittsburgh's North Shore for the three-day draft. And while fans of all teams from across the country made the trip to Pittsburgh, the buzz around the city didn't just come from that one event.

Like the city's three rivers, a sports equinox converged in Pittsburgh over the last week as a hot Pirates team hosted a homestand — complete with a Paul Skenes bobblehead giveaway — the Penguins returned to the playoffs for the