DETROIT – Mayor Mike Duggan is all smiles after a successful, record-breaking NFL Draft in Detroit.
“The idea that we would smash all the NFL attendance records never crossed my mind, but it’s been a spectacular team effort,” Duggan said.
By Sunday evening, estimates reported approximately 775,000 people attended the three-day event.
From out of towners to locals, the feedback was glowing.
“I talked to more suburbanites this week saying ‘we’ than I’ve heard in my lifetime and that’s a good thing,” Mike Duggan said.
Mike Duggan was walking around with his family Sunday, including his brother Dan Duggan who was a volunteer co-chair for the Draft Experience Committee.
“I talked to at least a thousand fans from out of town . . . looking for somebody to say something negative and everybody walked out of here saying this is just a fantastic city and that was the dream, that was the goal,” Dan Duggan said.
Duggan praised the work of others in making the draft a success, including Dan Gilbert and Detroit Police Chief James White.
“Chief White will be the hero of this draft,” Duggan said.
Detroit Police were out in full force throughout the draft, greeting fans and keeping everyone safe.
“The police officers, they have been awesome,” Lavetta Hatch from Toledo said. “The volunteers, you ask them a question, they assist you.”