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<p>The NFL Draft starts tonight in Pittsburgh, and no one gives a shit. Occupancy rates at both <a href="https://www.wpxi.com/news/local/rooms-still-available-hotels-short-term-rentals-ahead-nfl-draft/CEZMGGTKJFHMNOUF72HIUWW2SQ/">hotels and Airbnbs</a> in the Steel City are falling woefully short of initial projections. Fans who live in other cities are uninterested in paying up to four figures for <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/nfl-draft-attendance-could-be-hurt-by-pittsburgh-hotel-price-gouging/ar-AA20Rlk7">a single hotel room</a>, and locals aren’t exactly pleased that their public school system was compelled to switch to remote learning for <a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/04/20/nx-s1-5786711/pittsburgh-close-schools-nfl-draft">three full days this week</a> just to accommodate the event. The hype for this weekend is at such a low ebb that Fernando Mendoza, tonight’s No. 1 overall pick, <a href="https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/48421461/sources-fernando-mendoza-not-planning-attend-nfl-draft">has decided not to attend</a>. This draft is deader than your love life, and everyone knows it.</p>
<p>This shouldn’t be the case. Even with a draft class that’s unremarkable by nearly everyone’s standards, the streets of Pittsburgh should still be teeming with drunken yinzers and myriad Jets fans who made the drive just so that they could boo the selection of Arvell Reese in person. Hell, <em>I</em> should be at the draft right now, rocking my Kevin Williams jersey and keeping my eyes open with broken toothpicks so I can stay awake to see the No. 18 pick announced live. Then I could fall asleep in my hotel room and wake up the next morning to enjoy a traditional Pittsburgh breakfast of a scrappleburger with two McGriddles for its bun.</p>