Patience was a virtue Thursday at the 2026 NFL Draft, where waiting was the order of the day.
Brian Pontzer made the two-hour drive to Pittsburgh on Wednesday evening from DuBois in Clearfield County. He showed up at 7:30 a.m. on the North Shore to get in line for the NFL Draft Experience. The gates didn’t open until noon.
Pontzer and his friends didn’t mind. They were ready to fill the hours until the Steelers’ first pick — the draft begins at 8 p.m. and the Steelers go 21st — with all the event had to offer.
“This is a once in a lifetime thing,” Pontzer said. “It’s finally here in Pittsburgh. I’ll probably never get to go to another one anywhere, so I just wanted to make sure I could get here and enjoy all of it.”
Football fans are lining up to enter the NFL Draft Fan Experience over 2 hours before doors open at noon. Follow along with @TribLIVE as we keep you up to date on latest draft happenings????✨ pic.twitter.com/UtPhlX4C40
— haley daugherty (@halzdoc) April 23, 2026
Field goal first
Issac Gurule took three flights from Albuquerque, N.M., to be at the draft Thursday.
He waited in line for about 90 minutes for the draft experience gates to open at Point State Park. When he made it through, he made a beeline for the field goal challenge.
Inside the draft experience, fans could take their best shot, or kick, at a field goal on the grass.
“Never in my life have I kicked a field goal, but today is the day I’m going to make a field goal,” Gurule said.
The lines for the NFL Draft Fan Experience outside of Point State Park are getting longer as we approach the noon opening. Fans from all over are repping their favorite teams while they wait @triblive pic.twitter.com/Z0ROuBGKBp
— haley daugherty (@halzdoc) April 23, 2026
Chores on the line
The field goal activity was next to a 40-yard-dash.
Altoona residents Mark Vankaster and his son Luke, 11, had a quick race before coming to speak with TribLive. The elder Vankaster took the victory.
“Chores for a week. That’s what was on the line,” Vankaster said.
The father and son waited a half hour to enter the draft experience and spent another 10 minutes waiting to run.
They’re staying in Pittsburgh’s Allentown neighborhood and using public transportation to avoid parking and traffic.
“We took the bus down to Station Square and took the T over here,” Vankaster said. “The transportation was fantastic. It was pretty smooth.”
They weren’t the only people who avoided driving Thursday.
According to a statement from Rivers Casino Pittsburgh on Thursday, the use of public transportation and rideshare services relaxed the demand for parking.
In response, the casino lowered its parking price to $100 per day from $250 on Thursday and Friday.
Main stage
Santino Laster decided not to participate in the 40-yard-dash or the field goal activity Thursday afternoon because the lines were just too long by the time he arrived.
“The lines were probably hours long,” Laster said. “Wait times are a given. You’re in a place with hundreds of thousands of people.”
He flew in from Wisconsin to attend his fourth NFL Draft. Laster decided to focus on claiming a spot in front of the event’s main stage over five hours before the draft kicked off.
“I don’t think I’ve gotten this close to the stage on the first night before,” Laster said. “Right now at the draft theater, I didn’t expect to to get this close this fast.”
