I've always been a Philly guy. I was born in Upper Darby, and even though my parents moved our family out to the suburbs early in my life, I've always identified as a Philadelphia native. I use local colloquialisms like "youse" (meaning you all or y'all), I refer to the closest ocean as "the shore", and yes, I sometimes pronounce water as "wooder". I've taken in the history of Old City, seen the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, and run up and down the Rocky Steps at the Art Museum dozens of times. To put it simply, I love the culture of Philadelphia, and have always felt apart of it.

So when I heard that the 2017 NFL Draft was coming to Philadelphia, I was incredibly excited. I'm a huge football fan, the Eagles are life to me. Some of my best childhood memories are waking up early on Sunday's, watching some Rocky sequel around 11, then watching the Eagles at 1 with my family. Football has always been a large part of my life, for better or worse. Yes, some of you may shake your head at this, but my moods can be swayed by the results of Eagles games. Big win for the Birds? You'll find me grinning ear-to-ear on Monday morning. Defeating loss at the hands of the Giants or Cowboys? Do me a favor, don't even speak to me for a few days...

Even though I didn't get tickets to the Draft, a few friends of mine and myself took the time to take in the festivities on Friday night. And boy, was it a raucous occasion...

I planned to meet my friends in Center City at 30th Street Station. I drove to Manayunk and hitched a ride on regional rail line connecting to downtown Philadelphia (I also must quickly say that I very much prefer this mode of transport as opposed to driving to the city. Countless times I've found myself stuck in traffic on I-76 to and from sports games. With the train, it may take around the same time to get where I'm going, but it's so much less stress). I got to 30th St and met up with my buddies, and we proceeded to walk on foot towards NFL Draft Town.

As anyone familiar with the situation would know, the Benjamin Franklin Parkway had been closed off for the Draft festivities. For those unfamiliar with the Parkway, it's a long stretch of road that connects City Hall to the Art Museum. This area includes Love Park, the Franklin Institute, and may other prominent and culturally significant features of Philadelphia. It's one of the most scenic and beautiful thoroughfares any city can offer. As we approached the Draft entrance, I started realizing just what was about to happen: I, Kyle Shuff, was entering the NFL Draft Headquarters, located inside the city I call home. After a quick pinch of my arm, to make certain of my level of awakeness, we head inside.

We go through a basic security check point, and very quickly we're inside. Now, I know that the NFL Draft attracts fans from all over the country, and I see my fair share of different colored jerseys, but nothing could quite prepare me for the sea of midnight green I encountered. Eagles jerserys, Eagles shirts, Eagles flags, Eagles merchandise, E-A-G-L-E-S Eagles everywhere. It's painfully obvious that Eagle nation saw the Draft as a home game for them, and they came out in force to support their team. I must have heard 15 different chants of "Dallas Sucks". I felt right at home.

There was so much to do, it was close to sensory overload. Different shops and stalls lined the street, corporate brands like VISA, SKITTLES, and TOSTITOS had their advertising campaign out in force. Plenty of the simple, obvious things could be seen for an outdoor event like this, like food stalls and continuous rows of portable toilets. But as our group ventured deeper, we started seeing some real sights. One side of Draft Town had a Zip Line set up, giving the rider a breathtaking view of the event. Another side had a park cordoned off for NFL Scouting Combine events for everyone to try, like the 40 yard dash and the vertical jump. The local radio stations had booths set up broadcasting live (this was quite a treat for me to visibly see some of my favorite on-air personalities from stations like 94.1 WIP and 97.5 The Fanatic). A center pathway was home to mannequins in jerseys of all NFL teams for people to take pictures with. Countless sports celebrities had booths set up for autographs or photographs (a buddy of mine got Brian Westbrook's autograph...my jealousy is palpable). They even have a Lombardi Trophy on display to take pictures with (this actually annoyed me, for as many Philadelphia sports fans know, the Eagles have yet to win a Super Bowl, and frankly I don't want that trophy anywhere near this city until we actually win one). Essentially, NFL Draft Town is like a football fan's Christmas morning; it's as if you've woken up and all your sports dreams have come true.

The Draft Theater, where the picks are announced (and where those who were lucky enough to get real Draft tickets are allowed), was built around the steps of the Art Museum, the iconic Rocky Steps. No more fitting place could have been chosen, for no other Philadelphia landmark is as synonymous with our city's fighting spirit, as well as our passion for sports. A monstrous canopy (if you can really call it that) was built around the steps to house the Draft Theater, as well as providing visual displays for the fans standing outside it, along with powerful speakers so that every fan can hear every draft pick. My friends and I found a nice cozy spot right near the border of where non-ticket holders could access, but I can't stress enough how incredibly close we were. I was so close, I could very easily see the ESPN crew hosting the Draft, and nearly close enough to see just how much hair product Mel Kiper Jr. uses.

At 7pm, the 2nd round of the Draft began, and my friends and I were loving every minute. I couldn't even imagine how fun the night before must have been (the Draft started on Thursday night with the 1st round, and looked more like a rock concert than a major sports event). The Eagles had an early pick in the 2nd round, and as we inched closer to it, the crowd around us began to grow, more chants of our team name could he heard. Then at last, the Eagles were on the clock. With that announcment, an instant buzz starting moving though the multitudes. Event staff had passed out inflatable sticks that lit up green, and all around me I could see that color waving through the air. The beer was flowing, the droves were swelling, and there was an unmistakealbe energy shared between each onlooker. This was no Draft, this was a happening, the place to be, the culmination of all things sports and entertainment.

When the Eagles's pick was announced, a thunderous roar went out, no doubt it's sound echoing through the Museum in was directed at. It almost didn't even matter what player was taken (even though I was thrilled about that too: Sidney Jones, CB from Washington). This outcry was the result of all the love, the passion, the dedication that resides inside the heart of every true Philadelphia sports fan. This city is called "The City of Brotherly Love", and in that moment it felt more true than ever. Yeah, we may scream and yell and chant mean things towards the teams and the players we hate, but I couldn't help but think that in these moments, on this night, Philadelphia welcomed the football world into its home showing grace and compassion not many outsiders thought us capeable of. I'm sure there's a few bad apples among us, who critizied or admonished our football brethren a little too much, but I for one only saw our best qualities on display, and I've never been prouder to call myself a Philadelphian.

Which is why I believe the NFL should seriously consider Philadelphia to host the Draft every year. I do like the idea of the Draft moving from city to city, so that every fanbase can enjoy the experiences that I did. But let's be honest here...how many other cities can put on a show like Philadelphia did? Besides the usual east coast cities that are known for their die-hard sports love (New York, Boston, Washington D.C., Chicago too), I can't imagine other cities showing up in the amounts we did, providing as much fun as we did, showing as much passion as we did. The Parkway feels like it was build for events like these, and the Rocky Steps seems the most appropriate place to hold an event like this. I'm sure other cities are chomping at the bit to host the Draft after seeing how fantastic ours was (ugh, Dallas...), and I know I have a home bias here, but I truly believe that our city is the perfect site for an event like this. Maybe if we hadn't booed Roger Goodell so much, he'd have considered this...oh well, Philly is Philly, and I've never been more delighted to say that.