'Proud of Detroit:' Downtown shines and Lions fans celebrate as NFL draft kicks off

For Mayor Mike Duggan, the NFL draft taking over Detroit comes down to a relatively simple ask: all delight, no drama.

Hours into the first of three days expected to bring more than 300,000 people — and millions of dollars — into the region, the mayor basked in the culmination of years of coordination and planning.

"People who are here know that it's dramatically different in the city and everybody, last summer, who came to town for different conferences, all said the same thing to me: ‘Oh my God, this wasn't what I expected. When did the riverfront get here? When did all these restaurants open up here?' " Duggan said in an exclusive interview with the Free Press.

"This draft is important because you can't explain what's going on in Detroit, you’ve got to experience it and everybody who experiences it goes back and tells their friends."

The day wasn't entirely without a little drama. The area around the draft theater reached capacity about 6:45 p.m. and officials began turning people away at the gates, resulting in some confusion. Luckily, the rest of downtown Detroit's public parks were hosting watch parties with TV screens, food trucks and music.

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Donning a Detroit Lions varsity jacket Thursday morning, Duggan snapped photos with football fans by the Spirit of Detroit statue. He said he felt pride seeing the rush of joy among spectators flooding Hart Plaza and the surrounding area.

He wasn't alone.

Tom McDevitt and his dog Bobby, who both live in downtown Detroit, caught the eyes of fans who surrounded the furry fellow donning a fuzzy lions mane. Bobby is known as “Detroit Ambassadog” on Instagram, and McDevitt’s goal is to shine a light on the city and pit bulls with Bobby's personality.

“We make fun little social videos,” McDevitt said. “We go to all the tailgates so he's kind of known around the Lions circle of fandom of sorts. We've traveled cross-country to support the team and went to San Francisco for the NFC Championship game and met some fans out there. It was fun … he's just enjoying himself. He's a people person and loves getting butt scratches. It's his favorite thing.”

Reiner Calderero, 47, and Chris Guiao, 41, wore Lions gear from head to toe, capped off with Honolulu blue luchador masks. Behind the intricate coverings, they were all smiles.

"The people all around the world coming in here, they're seeing peaceful people, happy people, welcoming people. That's what we do in Detroit. We're not like them other cities," said Caldereo, of Warren. "Proud of Detroit."

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Guiao agreed.

"It's that cliche: Midwestern hospitality. Everyone's nice. We just want to show everyone that this city is a legitimate city to come visit, come be at, enjoy, have the energy," he said.

This is the type of positive perception of the city Duggan wants. Detroit exited bankruptcy nearly a decade ago after facing a plethora of debilitating issues, including losses in basic city services, dramatic population decline, widespread blight and other grim realities.

The mayor said the draft is part of changing Detroit's post-bankruptcy stigma and an opportunity to reintroduce itself to the country.

More: 10 years after bankruptcy, Detroit progress both promising and disappointing

"Never thought I'd see the day I wake up in the morning and there are two positive stories about Detroit in the New York Times. That hasn't happened in my lifetime, I don't believe. The Wall Street Journal ran a story last week, they told me it was the No. 1 read story for two days, positive on Detroit," Duggan said.

If all goes well, it should stay that way for the weekend, as Detroit welcomes the NFL universe to the sport's marquee event of the off-season. For decades, the draft represented an event for football insiders, super fans who couldn't wait to reorganize depth charts and prognosticate positions.

Now though, the league continues to market itself to the broadest possible swatch of people. It parallels efforts seen by both Detroit and Michigan leaders: the more the merrier.

"We have to demonstrate for the next three days that we could pull off this event in a way that everybody has a positive experience, but all I'm hearing from people is how clean the city is. That's the No. 1 comment we're getting today. But of course, we've made a commitment to clean the city for quite a while, but I'm not sure if it's looked this good in a number of years," Duggan said.

More: NFL draft in Detroit: Your guide to what's happening downtown, including full schedule

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Duggan heralded the initial announcement of the draft coming to Detroit. They've suggested it could bring millions of dollars to the city and state. But beyond that, for leaders who've lamented statewide population stagnation and a city rapidly losing residents, the draft represents a window to the world of a new Detroit.

"I just want to reintroduce Detroit to the country, and you're seeing it happen right now," said Duggan on Thursday. "All you've got to do is go talk to random people with jerseys from other cities but I'm looking for the young people who can pursue their careers anywhere to think about Detroit as a location, thinking about the entrepreneurs who are wondering where they’ll open their next location to think about Detroit when they might not have."

Leya Coleman, 60, said she couldn't miss the draft experience. But as a lifelong Detroiter, she said supporting her city is even more important.

"As a younger person, I used to always wish that we would have things like they had in Chicago, here. This is one of those things," she said. "The fact that they have this here in Detroit means everything."

Reach Dave Boucher at dboucher@freepress.com and on X, previously Twitter, @Dave_Boucher1. Dana Afana is the Detroit city hall reporter for the Free Press. Contact: dafana@freepress.com. Follow her: @DanaAfana.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Downtown Detroit shines, Lions fans celebrate as NFL Draft kicks off