NFL Draft Crowd Boom Forces Pittsburgh Schools to Shut Classrooms For 3 Days

PPS is switching to asynchronous learning, providing them with the flexibility to work independently and set their own schedules, while following assignments and instructions from their teachers.

NFL Draft Crowd Boom Forces Pittsburgh Schools to Shut Classrooms For 3 Days

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell (Image via IMAGO)

Pittsburgh is gearing up to host the 2026 NFL Draft from April 23 to 25, expecting to welcome between 500,000 and 700,000 visitors. In the wake of such an enormous footfall, the Pittsburgh Public Schools have decided to operate remotely from April 22 until the end of the draft.

The authorities also anticipate several road closures, heightened security, parking restrictions, and traffic in and around downtown. To keep students safe, PPS is switching to asynchronous learning, providing them with the flexibility to work independently and set their own schedules, while following assignments and instructions from their teachers.

According to an email from Superintendent Wayne Walters, the Draft will be the No.1 priority for those 3 days in Pittsburgh.

Our priority is maintaining continuity of learning while recognizing the extraordinary circumstances the city will experience during the NFL Draft.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell predicted that the draft in Pittsburgh would draw a massive crowd from all over the country.

It’s going to be bigger than what you can expect. It has grown every year. We keep talking about the fact of wanting communities to do it their way, so there will be a lot of yinzers and a lot of ways to celebrate the game [in Pittsburgh].

Goodell said (HT/WTAE ABC4)

The draft is making its way back to Pittsburgh after an 80-year absence. The Steel City last hosted one of the biggest events on the football calendar in 1947 at the Fort Pitt Hotel. It still took the Steelers, the only major football franchise in the area, nearly three decades to win a Super Bowl. Since lifting the Lombardi Trophy in 1975, the Steelers have gone on to win five more, bringing their total to six rings.

The Steelers’ most recent Super Bowl victory came in 2008 under head coach Mike Tomlin. Tomlin reached a second final two years later, which the Steelers lost. Despite making the playoffs almost every year, the Steelers last won a postseason game in 2016.

In 2025, the Steelers faltered in the wildcard round against the Houston Texans. DeMeco Ryans’ Texans won 30-6. Shortly after the defeat, Tomlin stepped away from football. Mike McCarthy, a Pittsburgh native, is currently the new head coach of the team.

The Pittsburgh Steelers signed ex-Cowboys star to improve the offensive line

The draft is still a month away. In the meantime, the Steelers made a smart addition to the offensive side of the ball.

NFL Draft Crowd Boom Forces Pittsburgh Schools to Shut Classrooms For 3 Days
Mike McCarthy (Image via IMAGO)

According to reports from insider Mark Kaboly, the Steelers are signing interior lineman Brock Hoffman on a 1-year deal.

The Steelers have signed C/G Brock Hoffman (6-4, 302) to a 1-year deal to strengthen their depth in the interior of the offensive line. The 26-year-old played 4 seasons with the Cowboys

Kaboly wrote on X

As Kaboly mentioned, Hoffman spent four years with the Dallas Cowboys. The Virginia Tech graduate went undrafted in 2022 before the Cleveland Browns offered him a place on the practice squad. However, Hoffman was released before the season began and was picked up by the Cowboys. He played in 54 games for the Cowboys, starting in 16 of them.

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