NFL Draft coming to Pittsburgh…Gainey plays vital role

Pittsburgh’s first Black mayor, Ed Gainey, has a large number of support­ers. And he, not unlike any­one else in life, has detrac­tors. But one thing no one can take away from Ed Gain­ey is that under his watch as Pittsburgh’s mayor, the city was awarded the largest three-day tourism gift in all of America—the 2026 NFL Draft. Of course, without the Pittsburgh Steelers, with­out Art Rooney II and the Rooney family, without the Super Bowls, without the great success on the field, the Draft wouldn’t have thought about coming to Pittsburgh. But Mayor Gainey, who is a diehard Steelers fan growing up on the East End, going to Peabody High School and waving Terrible Towels at every turn, told everyone from his first day in office that he wanted the Draft in Pittsburgh. “I told Mr. Rooney, ‘We gotta get the Draft here,’” Mayor Gainey said a day after the NFL made it of­ficial on Wednesday, May 15. He said, ‘Are you sure?’ I said, ‘Yeah, Mr. Rooney, I’m sure because you de­serve it.’” CELEBRATING THE FEAT OF THE DRAFT COMING TO PITTSBURGH IN 2026—JERAD BACHAR, ED GAINEY, SARA INNAMORATO, JOSH SHAPIRO, ART ROONEY II. (PHOTOS BY MARLON MARTIN) The...