The NFL has selected the city of Detroit as the host of its annual 2024 Entry Draft on Monday.
According to the NFL Network, the city in the state of Michigan, home of the Lions, was preferred over Green Bay (Packers) and Washington (Commanders).
The amateur auction has become the second largest event in the NFL calendar, after the Super Bowl, due to its economic impact and its popularity.
“I’m excited to be able to showcase the city for millions of reasons,” Lions owner Sheila Hamp said in a statement posted on her organization’s website. It is a city that has too often been denigrated, belittled for certain reasons, but those who live there know better than anyone [que c’est faux]. Many extraordinary things are happening there. So we’re excited to show the world what Detroit is all about.”
The NFL Draft was held exclusively in New York between 1965 and 2014. The Goodell Circuit, however, decided to change the location of the event and tour the cities of its teams. Thus, Chicago (twice), Philadelphia, Dallas, Nashville hosted the three-day event between 2015 and 2019, before the 2020 edition was presented virtually. Cleveland acted as host last year, while Las Vegas will do so from April 28-30, 2022.
“When the draft started to move and it was just as successful in other markets, it became one of our priorities,” said team president Rod Wood. I’m glad it finally happened and I hope we put on a show good enough to be considered for a Super Bowl.”
The next stars of Hard Knocks
The hit documentary Hard Knocksproduced annually by the HBO network and NFL Films, will once again be back in 2022. The Lions will be the stars for this edition.
In this series, an NFL team is followed through all of its training camp events, giving viewers a different take on what can be going on behind the scenes within an organization.
“We’re excited to get this opportunity to showcase the city of Detroit and the culture we’re trying to instill within the Lions organization,” added Wood.
This means that the head coach of the Lions, Dan Campbell, will be one of the stars of the documentary. In his first season at the helm, the 45-year-old was only able to lead his team to a 3-13-1 record, but his multiple statements never failed to make headlines .
“This team will take on the identity of this city, he mentioned during his first press conference in this role. This city was knocked down, but it always found a way to get back up. She found a way to deal with adversity. So this team is going to kick you in the teeth and when you fight back, we’re going to respond with a smile. And if you knock us down, we’ll bite your kneecap as we get up.”
He had also said that he would like to have a real lion as a pet. His speech in the dressing room, after his first victory, was also very emotional and quickly spread on social networks.
“The city, the culture and the coaching staff in Detroit all have an exciting energy that will make this documentary one you can’t miss this summer,” said NFL Films Vice President Ken Rodgers. .
