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<\/p>\nPope Yinzer (Don Zadach of Finleyville) and Steeler Jesus (Sean Steinmetz of North Hills) have faith that their Black and Gold will draft the right players.
\nObserver-Reporter photo by Karen Mansfield\n<\/p>\n
PITTSBURGH \u2014 Arizona resident Dave Kruper remembers rooting for the Dallas Cowboys when he was a kid growing up in the 1970s and 1980s. <\/p>\n
Kruper was born in Brownsville, and lived there until his parents moved to Phoenix when he was 3 years old. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe moved to Arizona in the \u201960s and the Steelers weren\u2019t very good, and they were never on TV on the West Coast,\u201d explained Kruper. \u201cWhen I was 8 or 9 years old and started watching football, and the Arizona Cardinals were still in St. Louis, the only teams we got on TV were the Rams and the Cowboys. I liked the star on the Cowboys\u2019 uniforms, and I liked their quarterback, Roger Staubach, the way he played and carried himself.\u201d<\/p>\n
From then on, said Kruper, he was a fan.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy family remained Steelers fans, but I always rooted for the Cowboys,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Fans from world over descend on the Steel City for the NFL Draft. More than 500,000 visitors are expected to fill the \u2019Burgh during the three-day event.
\nObserver-Reporter photo\n<\/p>\n
Until this week, Kruper had never been to Acrisure Stadium and had visited Pittsburgh only once. But on Tuesday, he and a buddy, John Klatz, landed in Columbus, Ohio, and drove to a hotel in Delmont, about 25 miles east of Pittsburgh. The friends plan to attend all three days of the NFL Draft. <\/p>\n
Klatz, it turns out, grew up in Binghamton, N.Y., but is a diehard Pittsburgh Steelers fan \u2014 he does not root for the Buffalo Bills or the New York Giants or Jets, which are closer geographically.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was old enough to start watching football, it was in the 1970s when the Steelers were doing well and winning Super Bowls,\u201d said Klatz. \u201cOriginally, I loved their uniforms \u2014 they looked like a bunch of bumble bees out there \u2014 and then I idolized the ball players. I\u2019d play football in the back yard and we\u2019d play as Franco Harris or Lynn Swann or Joe Greene.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kruper and Klatz were out and about near Acrisure Stadium and Point State Park on Thursday morning ahead of the first night of the NFL Draft. <\/p>\n
They were not alone.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Draft-5.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Pittsburgh Steelers\u2019 International Fan of the Year Tom McCormack came from Dublin, Ireland, to watch the NFL Draft. McCormack announced the Steelers\u2019 sixth round draft pick last year \u2014 Ohio State quarterback Will Howard.
\nObserver-Reporter photo by Karen Mansfield\n<\/p>\n
Hundreds of football fans from across the country \u2014 the globe, actually \u2014 roamed the streets around Acrisure Stadium and Pittsburgh, hours before the NFL Draft campus opened to the public. <\/p>\n
Greg Powell and his friend, Wallace Watts, a retired airline captain affectionately known as \u201cCaptain Seahawk,\u201d made the trip from Seattle to Pittsburgh \u2014 it is Powell\u2019s sixth consecutive NFL Draft \u2014 and they plan to be inside the NFL Draft Stage area to watch their Super Bowl champion Seahawks and the 31 other NFL teams select the best eligible college football players in the country for their rosters. <\/p>\n
Powell has visited the Steel City five times, to watch the Seattle Seahawks and Seattle Mariners play the Steelers and Pirates.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love Pittsburgh. It\u2019s beautiful, clean and safe, and it\u2019s a great city,\u201d Powell said.<\/p>\n
For five friends who graduated from Keystone Oaks High School and now are college students, the NFL Draft \u201cis a once-in-a-lifetime experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAs soon as we heard the draft was going to be in Pittsburgh, it was a must-go-to event for us,\u201d said Jacob Wagner, who, along with his friends, was clad in a Pittsburgh Steelers jersey. <\/p>\n
Said his friend Hayden Kenny, \u201cI am so ready for the energy the draft is going to bring. We\u2019re excited to watch the draft with Pittsburghers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Football fans were plenty busy Thursday, listening to musical performances and engaging in a variety of football-themed activities \u2014 kicking field goals and testing their vertical jump, posing with the Lombardi Trophy and giant-sized NFL helmets, scoring autographs from current NFL players and Steelers legends, sampling traditional Pittsburgh food \u2014 pierogies and Primanti\u2019s \u2014 and other cuisine and beverages. <\/p>\n
Tony Morano drove 4.5 hours from his hometown of Windsor, Canada, near Detroit, but he is a New York Giants fan because he shares a birthday \u2014 Feb. 4 \u2014 with NFL Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor.<\/p>\n
Morano, who brought a Steelers NFL jersey that he planned to get autographed, said the NFL couldn\u2019t have picked a better place to host the draft. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is gorgeous, it\u2019s stunning,\u201d said Morano, pointing to the Pittsburgh skyline. \u201cI\u2019ve never been to Pittsburgh, but I would come back here. I just can\u2019t ride the incline without my wife while I\u2019m here. Also, I\u2019ve met fans from all over the place, and that\u2019s been a lot of fun. It\u2019s a very good vibe.\u201d<\/p>\n
At least 500,000 fans are expected to pour into Pittsburgh for the three-day Draft Experience \u2014 enough to fill seven Acrisure stadiums, and almost double the city\u2019s population of about 307,000 residents. <\/p>\n
\u201cI love this craziness,\u201d said Don Zadach, aka Pope Yinzer, who was dressed in Steelers-<\/p>\n
themed papal garb. <\/p>\n
The Finleyville, Washington County, resident was strolling with his friend, Sean \u201cSteeler Jesus\u201d Steinmetz of North Hills, while a steady stream of football fans approached them to pose for a photo. <\/p>\n
The pair attend all home Steelers games, and plan to be near the Draft Stage when the Steelers make their selection with the 21st pick. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s amazing, all the stuff that\u2019s going on, and that\u2019s why we\u2019re down here. We love meeting people, we love talking to people and talking about football. It\u2019s the best,\u201d said Zadach, as he and Steinmetz paused to take a photo with three Steelers fans from Huntington Beach, Calif., who have rooted for the Black-and-Gold since 1994, when the former Los Angeles Rams left Orange County to move to St. Louis. <\/p>\n
Harrisburg residents Zoran and Angelina Hernandez, who moved from Miami, Fla., more than 20 years ago, were decked out in Miami teal-and-orange shirts and jewelry and took the 6:15 a.m. \u201cT\u201d from South Hills Village to Acrisure Stadium to make sure they arrived before the crowds showed up. <\/p>\n
It is the first NFL Draft the football fans have attended, and they figured the event was their best chance to attend a major NFL event in person. Pittsburgh is likely too cold to host a Super Bowl \u2014 although, fans point out happily, the Pittsburgh Steelers have won six Lombardi trophies.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we found out it was going to be in Pittsburgh, we thought it was close enough that we had to drive here,\u201d said Zoran Hernandez, a fan of Plum native and former NFL kicker Pat McAfee, who hosts a popular sports show. Hernandez said he was eager to try a Primanti\u2019s sandwich while in town.<\/p>\n
Also taking in the draft activities was Elise Robinson, a U.S. Army veteran from Seattle, Wash., who is a 2025 NFL Fan of the Year and president of the Sea Hawkers Booster Club. She has attended NFL Drafts since 2018.<\/p>\n
For Robinson, football fosters camaraderie and a strong sense of community among fans of all teams, and she struck up conversations with other fans at the draft \u2014 including a Minnesota Viking fan who joked that Robinson should thank the Vikings for letting Super Bowl-winning quarterback Sam Darnold walk away from her team and sign with the Seahawks. <\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t Robinson\u2019s first visit to Acrisure. She has flown in to watch the Seahawks play the Steelers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a great venue, but I do want to note that they do not have many sweets at the stadium,\u201d said Robinson, laughing. \u201cI walked all over and I found a good chocolate shake, but you need more sweets.\u201d<\/p>\n
By the afternoon, thousands of fans had filled the grounds around the stadium and strolled around Point Park. It was sunny, the temperature was in the 70s, and the mood was festive. A majority of fans were wearing jerseys, hats or colored clothing in homage to their favorite teams.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is like our bucket list,\u201d said Kruper. \u201cIt\u2019s one of those bucket list things that I\u2019ve always wanted to do. I\u2019m so glad we\u2019re doing it. You just gotta do stuff. When you have the chance, do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
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