UW-Whitewater students traveled to Green Bay for the 2025 NFL Draft, taking advantage of a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Members of Royal Purple, UWW-TV and 91.7 The Edge received media credentials to cover the draft, documenting their experiences talking with professional media members, incoming draft prospects and fans of all 32 NFL teams.
Parker Olsen, 91.7 The Edge News Director
Getting to be at the NFL Draft is one thing, getting to work at the NFL Draft to cover it is a whole other animal that I never thought I would get to do. As the news director at 91.7 The Edge I have discovered things that have really crafted how I’m moving forward in life. Getting to cover the draft for the station is a major milestone in my life.
The draft has been really neat to see the inner workings of. Getting to walk on the stage and check out the green room where NFL prospects awaited that special phone call was special.
My coverage of the draft tackles the economic impact the massive event has on the surrounding area, everything from businesses to homeowners selling parking space on their lawns. Getting to hear fans talk about what the event means for their community has been a special experience.
It all felt surreal, from the moment our media credential applications were accepted to the moment we drove off a former 91.7 station manager’s lawn where we’d been parking all week. I can’t believe we got to do what we did. I may or may not get my NFL Draft media credential framed.
All of it has been a once in a lifetime experience… hopefully not though.
Chris Pittner, 91.7 The Edge Sports Director
Going in, I knew that the event was going to be a great experience for us, but I still was not 100 percent sure what to expect, from day one particularly. Being able to be around professional media, and getting up close and personal with some of the NFL’s next big stars was not something I was expecting, but relished in the opportunity.
Additionally, we got the chance to see everything up close in person, including the podium, theater and the green room. This was a fantastic opportunity for us to see the facilities of such a highly organized, and meticulously planned event that was a tremendous success, bringing in over 205,000 fans for day one, around twice the population of the city of Green Bay entirely.
Being able to experience a media workroom in a professional setting with hundreds of other media members who were writing stories, gathering information and performing field reports and standups was a great experience, where we got to see firsthand how some of the best reporters in the business operate in the field, and how they prepare for their liveshots and conduct interviews, and stories for the nightly news.
Gabe Sadoski, UWW-TV Co-Sports Supervisor
‘Grateful’ barely scratches the surface of how it felt covering the 2025 NFL Draft in Green Bay.
I was born and raised in Wisconsin. Countless Sunday nights were spent glued to my TV watching the Packers like most across the state. On the rare occasion where I attended games at Lambeau Field, I always left with a grin on my face not wanting to leave.
The draft proved no different.
The smell of charcoal grills, fried cheese curds, taco trucks and freshly-popped kettle corn filled the air that week. Had my pockets been heavier, I would have indulged. Instead, I had to settle for the steak, salmon and risotto offered by the NFL.
I interviewed the 2024 Heisman Trophy winner, Travis Hunter, people from as far away as Germany and as close as two blocks away. Fans of all teams represented themselves well, but witnessing a sea of green and gold paint the premises felt ethereal.
What made the event “real” for me was receiving my media credential on the first day. I try to save as many of them as I can as a keepsake. They serve as a reminder of what events I have covered over time and remind me of how far I have come as a student journalist.
I am most proud of the UW-Whitewater student media representation from the entire week. Myself and three other current students worked the draft, on top of two alumni working for their respective local stations. Go Warhawks!
Josh Jacobi, UWW-TV Co-Sports Supervisor
From the moment we received our credentials on the media preview day to watching the Packers’ third-round pick be announced in the pit right before we left, it was all breathtaking. During the media preview day, we got to interview Heisman Trophy winner and runner-up Travis Hunter and Ashton Jeanty, walk on the draft stage, walk down the tunnel where the tour we were on was interrupted by Molly McGrath doing a live read for ESPN, see the green room where the prospects hung out during the draft, and got to see where all of the ESPN and NFL Network on-site studios were set up.
The first day of the draft was all about interviewing fans from everywhere. We interviewed people as close as down the road on Lombardi Avenue to across the country, to overseas in Europe, including five NFL International Fans of the Year (including the Packers’ fan). Hearing all of their stories was so interesting, especially since American Football isn’t as popular over in Europe as it is in the states.
We also got to be in a real-world media setting during the actual draft, as we were assigned to be in the Media Workroom. We met a few people and got to see how the media room works.
The second day of the draft wasn’t as exciting due to the rain, but it was still pretty great. We interviewed the locals who lived around the stadium and gained insight into how the draft had impacted the community. I have always been interested in stories about how big events affect the local communities, and the NFL Draft had a positive impact on the Green Bay community. The locals loved how they could still sell their driveways for parking and enjoyed the option of going to check out the draft experience for as long as they wanted, since they lived a block away.
Overall, the NFL Draft was a special experience and felt like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I hope this isn’t the last NFL Draft I cover as media, and I hope it isn’t the last for the city of Green Bay.
