DETROIT (WXYZ) — We're counting down the days to the NFL Draft, and Monday marks one month until the event starts in Downtown Detroit.
Reminder: Channel 7 is your home for the NFL Draft. Follow our Draft page for updates leading up to the event
Last week, we spoke to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in Lansing, who shared her excitement for the draft.
"I'm thrilled, you know. We started working on this years ago and made a compelling pitch and we won the draft and we've been looking forward to this for a couple of years. So it's gonna be great for the City of Detroit," Whitmer said.
Hear more from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer below
Whitmer has been seen on the sidelines at Detroit Lions games and at training camp, and she said the draft in Detroit will bring the city and the state to another level.
"I think this is an opportunity for us to showcase some of the amazing things that are happening here in Michigan and in Detroit, in particular," she said.
The state is also working to bring more people to Michigan, and Whitmer said that people coming in for the draft brings an opportunity to get new eyes on the area.
"I think that we sometimes suffer from old conceptions of what Michigan is or what Detroit is," she said. "We have got so many cool things that are happening and so to get here and to see it beyond the ground is totally different than anything that you read or see on video. It is the lived experience of checking out these phenomenal restaurants and offerings that you can't find anywhere else.
"So I think we've got a great story to tell," she said.
Hear from Visit Detroit President Claude Molinari, House Speaker Joe Tate and Whitmer below
What does she hope fans can see when they're here?
"I hope they see a city that is hustling where there is so much economic development happening, where there are good jobs at phenomenal institutions of higher education," she said. "Michigan is a unique place and I hope people get an opportunity to really see the high quality of life at the good cost of living that we offer, that you really can't find anywhere else."
