Kyle Cousineau created lasting memories in his hometown of Green Bay when it hosted the 2025 NFL Draft last April.<\/p>\n
Cousineau, a lifelong resident, is a die-hard Packers fan. He grew up watching the team and was eager for the country to experience the city he loves during the NFL Draft.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we were lucky enough to get the draft because of the history and our stadium \u2014 Lambeau Field \u2014 being iconic,\u201d said Cousineau, who is 46. \u201cMuch like the Steelers, the Packers are a blue blood organization in the NFL, and there\u2019s only a few of us that exist.\u201d<\/p>\n
He planned ahead to make sure he could enjoy the experience.<\/p>\n
Living five miles from Lambeau Field and working just a mile away, Cousineau worried that draft traffic would choke his business. A real estate appraiser who crisscrosses the area, he and his partner even considered shutting down for a week.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were all types of road closures,\u201d Cousineau said. \u201cLambeau Field is basically at the intersection of residential streets.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the NFL\u2019s draft campus was so sprawling it shut down major west-side highways for days.<\/p>\n
That kind of footprint lands differently in Green Bay, the league\u2019s smallest market. As Green Bay police Chief Chris Davis noted, the city has about 100,000 residents, with roughly 270,000 across all of Brown County.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t overplan this event,\u201d Davis said. \u201cWe spent a better part of a year planning for it here. \u2026 We knew going into the event that this would tax our resources in a way that you wouldn\u2019t see in a larger city.\u201d<\/p>\n
Making things work<\/p>\n
In an effort to welcome hundreds of thousands people into the city, Davis\u2019 department worked with surrounding community emergency service agencies, county services and the local sheriff\u2019s office.<\/p>\n
Davis said they broke public safety planning into pieces.<\/p>\n
Wisconsin State Police took the lead on the traffic plan to broaden the scope from traffic around the immediate area of the field, to roads throughout the region. Having traffic mediation begin from miles away created a trickle-down effect that helped things run smoothly close to the draft footprint.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the big things we had to plan for was traffic,\u201d Davis said. \u201cWe took a regional approach.\u201d<\/p>\n
The plan paid off, Davis said. He said traffic wasn\u2019t an issue during the event.<\/p>\n
Cousineau, who kept his real estate appraisal business open during draft week, agrees with the police chief. Using his knowledge of the \u201cins and outs\u201d of the city roads, he found it easier to get around than he expected.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow looking back on it, it wasn\u2019t the inconvenience that we thought it could have been,\u201d Cousineau said.<\/p>\n
Attending the show<\/p>\n
The NFL Draft in Pittsburgh opens on April 23, a Thursday, and runs through April 25. Cousineau\u2019s biggest advice for fans heading to Pittsburgh: Timing is everything.<\/p>\n
\u201cGet there early on Thursday,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Cousineau spent the draft\u2019s opening night in a big crowd of his own \u2014 friends who flew in, some he hadn\u2019t seen in years, plus locals and family all joining in.<\/p>\n
Before the draft, the group stopped at nearby bars and lingered \u2014 \u201ca beer or two too long,\u201d Cousineau said. By the time they cleared security, the theater was full.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe screwed up,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
They watched the first round from the big screens alongside Lambeau Field on Lombardi Avenue.<\/p>\n
From a public safety perspective, Davis recommended that people traveling in groups take a photo when they arrive. In case the group gets separated or someone gets lost, officers will have the most recent photo of them when looking for them.<\/p>\n
He said Friday and Saturday were much easier to navigate.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe crowd was probably 25% of what it was on Thursday night,\u201d Cousineau said of the following draft days.<\/p>\n
Saturday seemed to be the designated family day, Cousineau said. He took his daughters Atlee, 5, and Emryn, 8, to see the sights. Both girls are following in their father\u2019s footsteps of being Packers super-fans.<\/p>\n
The three of them sported green and gold and enjoyed the day.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t even to be there to watch the draft picks in the fifth and sixth rounds,\u201d Cousineau said. \u201cIt was just being down there, letting my daughters experience such a cool event. It was awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n
Managing the crowd<\/p>\n
Davis, the police chief, said he and other Green Bay officials consulted with offices in cities that previously hosted the draft, such as Detroit.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven though we had a very detailed plan, we maintained some flexibility,\u201d Davis said. \u201cYour plan only survives until the event starts. \u2026 You will always be confronted with something you didn\u2019t think of.\u201d<\/p>\n
Something Davis didn\u2019t expect was the sheer number of people who showed up to the mile-long NFL Draft campus all at once. Davis said his department sees around 77,000 people in the same area during a regular-season Packers game. There were around 150,000 people there on the first day of the draft.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have never seen that many people in that footprint,\u201d Davis said. \u201cIt was packed from one end to another.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said a section of the campus experienced a \u201cbottleneck\u201d effect with so many people packed together, trying to move in different directions. Stampeding became a brief concern for public safety officials, Davis said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn our footprint, because it was really long from east to west and it was kind of all in a line, we ran into some pedestrian congestion problems,\u201d Davis said.<\/p>\n
The department\u2019s mountain bikes were a handy solution. A large number of officers were assigned to general patrols of the area on bikes. They were able to maneuver through the crowds and direct pedestrian traffic.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou weren\u2019t getting a car through there,\u201d Davis said.<\/p>\n
Drone incursions became a regular issue throughout the draft. Davis said the department worked with federal law enforcement to secure a temporary flight restriction over the NFL campus, but some operators still flew drones overhead.<\/p>\n
Officers on mountain bikes tracked down the operators and forced the drones to land.<\/p>\n
Green Bay spent more than $1 million on public safety measures, Mayor Eric Genrich said, while Brown County and the Green Bay suburb of Ashwaubenon combined to spend about $500,000. He said the entities entered a state grant program that reimbursed them for almost the full amount spent on public safety measures.<\/p>\n
Genrich acted as middleman for communication with the county, city and village.<\/p>\n
Over the entirety of the event, there were two arrests total, Davis said. A few ejections and citations took place over the three days as well. Officials estimated that 600,000 people attended the draft.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs an organization and as a city, I think we deserve to be proud of the fact that we got 600,000 people through this event and everybody had a good time and it was safe,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Pittsburgh officials expect 500,000 to 700,000 draft attendees.<\/p>\n
Local hopes<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the other big responsibilities I felt like I had was to make sure we were maximizing the community benefit of hosting an event like this,\u201d Genrich said.<\/p>\n
To do so, Genrich said the city organized events in the city\u2019s downtown, rebranded as \u201cTouchdown Downtown\u201d for the week, to get businesses and locals involved.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was complementing what was being planned at the draft footprint and maximizing our chances to expose people to everything we have to offer within the community,\u201d Genrich said.<\/p>\n
He said city officials wanted to make it clear to residents that the draft wasn\u2019t \u201cjust some big party for tourists.\u201d Davis said there were city-hosted activities like fireworks and live music for residents who didn\u2019t want to be in the draft footprint.<\/p>\n
Genrich recommended that business owners \u201cmanage their expectations\u201d for draft week when hoping for a surge in business.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re not in close proximity to the draft, or if you\u2019re not in close proximity to something the city may be planning, just manage those expectations,\u201d Genrich said.<\/p>\n
Staying true to the city<\/p>\n
Cousineau said before the big day, the NFL transformed the area where the draft was set to be hosted.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt didn\u2019t look anything like the Lambeau Field that I\u2019ve been to hundreds of times and driven past hundreds of thousands of times,\u201d Cousineau said. \u201cIt was wild.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the stadium itself looked the same, but things like the signage around the makeshift campus, security checkpoints and the infrastructure of the draft theater changed the area from something he knew like the back of his hand to a whole new experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was cool to see it all be constructed in the few weeks leading up to the event itself,\u201d Cousineau said.<\/p>\n
At the same time, Cousineau felt the NFL showcased Green Bay\u2019s essence as a city quite well.<\/p>\n
\u201cGreen Bay is so unique because of the small-town atmosphere coupled with this historic franchise,\u201d Cousineau said.<\/p>\n
Genrich, the mayor, called the draft a fantastic time. He said it had a positive economic impact on the city and gave Green Bay great visibility.<\/p>\n
While he recognized locals\u2019 worries about traffic and a high volume of visitors, the event ended up running smoothly. \u201cWe really have no regrets about hosting it,\u201d Genrich said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a lot of fun,\u201d Davis said. \u201cI remember encouraging people in our community to go check it out. This might be the only time in your lifetime to go to something like this.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kyle Cousineau created lasting memories in his hometown of Green Bay when it hosted the 2025 NFL Draft…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":151453,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[73,75,74],"class_list":{"0":"post-151452","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh","8":"tag-pittsburgh","9":"tag-pittsburgh-headlines","10":"tag-pittsburgh-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151452"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151452\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}