A bright blue Seahawks jersey marked Dylan Slaughter in the North Shore crowd at the NFL Draft in Pittsburgh Thursday.
Slaughter, 28, made the trek to the Steel City from Olympia, Wash., the previous day.
The draft marked his first visit to Pennsylvania. He was impressed by Pittsburgh.
“It’s a good different. It’s green like Washington … it’s surprisingly green,” Slaughter said. “The river’s beautiful, and honestly, it’s a very walkable city … it’s very different than Seattle.”
The crowds in town for the NFL Draft Thursday mixed football fandom with sightseeing. Many praised the city’s hospitality, walkability and atmosphere while navigating the North Shore and Point State Park draft footprints.
Outside of football season, the NFL Draft is Slaughter’s favorite time of year, though he’s always only watched it on TV until now.
“I just love football — I love the draft,” Slaughter said. “I love seeing players make their dreams come true.”
Through a friend who works at Alaska Airlines, he was able to get to Pittsburgh for free. He and his friends booked an extended-stay hotel in Cranberry.
Since arriving, he’s enjoyed seeing the variety of jerseys and is looking forward to spending time with friends — and watching who gets drafted. He plans to get close to the stage Thursday and Friday nights.
“You will find all walks of life,” Slaughter said. “Everyone is just very welcoming.”
Matthew Neiheisel and Jimmy Cox didn’t have to travel far to experience the draft. They drove east from Ohio.
Both have visited Pittsburgh before, and Neiheisel, 40, of Hudson, between Cleveland and Akron, attended the now-defunct Art Institute of Pittsburgh for college.
“The people have been real personable, hospitable,” he said.
Neiheisel is a Cleveland Browns fan. But Cox, 40, who lives in Cortland — just 15 miles from the Pennsylvania border — is a Steelers fan. In Downtown Pittsburgh, they’ve seen representation for all of the teams, with an emphasis on AFC North.
In order to get “a razz out of people,” Neiheisel said he likes to start conversations with people supporting other teams.
Thursday morning, Neiheisel and Cox drove in at around 8 a.m. — but then decided parking was “not going to be doable.”
Instead, they drove out to a park-and-ride stop in the North Hills and took a shuttle. He said the shuttle experience was seamless.
Kelvin Fayton, a Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan hailing from Davenport, Fla., flew into Pittsburgh Wednesday night. He will leave Saturday night.
“I try to go to all of the drafts,” said Fayton, 65, mentioning previous festivities in Nashville and Cleveland. Pittsburgh’s draft setup looks “pretty decent” in comparision.
It’s Fayton’s first time in the Pittsburgh, and he hasn’t gotten a chance to explore much yet. But he is looking forward to checking out the region.
“We talk trash — it is what it is; everyone’s nice about it,” he said of interacting with other teams’ fans at the draft, which is always a highlight for him. “Everybody’s friendly.”
As a Steelers fan who lives in Texas, Ronald Pingor was happy see a lot of Steelers fans in attendance. The numerous Dallas Cowboys fans, not so much.
Pingor, 67, of El Paso, is a Pittsburgh native who has lived in Texas for around 45 years. He was in the military and got stationed at Fort Bliss. “I come to Pittsburgh two, three times a year,” he said. “All of my family still lives here.”
Between the Pirates and the Steelers, Pingor said the 1970s was a good decade to grow up in Pittsburgh.
“When we heard there was going to be a draft here, I immediately called my brother,” he said. “There was never a doubt.”
In his travels, Pingor said he ran into football fans during a Houston layover. He landed in Pittsburgh Tuesday afternoon.
“I noticed several Steelers shirts and several other teams,” he said. “I certainly assumed they were going where I was going.”
Slaughter, the Seattle Seahawks fan, has another agenda item: authentic Pittsburgh food.
“We are still on the hunt for Primanti Brothers, so we will definitely try that,” he said.