EDITOR’S NOTE: The Lions’ scheduled first-round pick, No. 28 overall, had not come on the clock by press time for this edition. Check MacombDaily.com/Sports to see who the Lions drafted Thursday night.

As all eyes descended upon Detroit for the 2024 NFL Draft, one of the best stories to come out of the weekend was — well, Detroit.

They say the best teams match the identities of the cities they play for, and that was never more evident than it was when the draft went live from Campus Martius over those three days. Only the usual buzzwords — grit, grind, fight — were temporarily put away in favor of more hope-filled descriptions — rebirth, comeback, alive.

According to Marty Dobek, executive director of the Detroit Sports Commission and the city’s primary liaison to the NFL for the draft, the mission of highlighting every facet of the community was an unmitigated success.“This town came together like no other city has for the NFL Draft,” Dobek said. “It really was just the expectation that was set when we awarded the draft of…we are going to take a Super Bowl-level approach to hosting the NFL Draft, and we did that with ensuring alignment across the board in our community, and all the key stakeholders were represented and part of the planning process.”

The lasting image to come out of Detroit’s record-setting draft, where more than 775,000 people made their way downtown over three days, will be a sea of humanity surrounded by some of the city’s oldest and largest skyscrapers.

This year, as the draft kicks off from the home of one of Detroit’s biggest rivals, the Green Bay Packers, expect it to look entirely different. Lions president and CEO Rod Wood noted the expected difference when he took a playful jab at the Packers during a pre-draft event hosted by the Detroit Economic Club earlier this week.

“There’s no way Green Bay will come close (to the record),” Wood said. “They’ll finish second, or as I said … off-stage, third, as they did (in the division) last year.”

That’s because, unlike a sprawling downtown landscape, the draft theater in Green Bay will be located inside the legendary Lambeau Field, which opened in 1957 and holds a little more than 81,000 fans. Due to the venue’s limited capacity, they likely won’t be finishing second (600,000, Nashville) or even third (312,000, Kansas City).

The city of Green Bay will have to find other ways to make a lasting impact.

Gabrielle Dow, the Packers’ vice president of marketing and fan engagement, is the primary liaison for this year’s draft. She’s attended the last few drafts to get a lay of the land and see what she can apply to the event in Green Bay. Her prevailing thought from attending the draft in Detroit? It’s going to look nothing like the one this upcoming weekend.

“The thing I took away is it’s going to be very different,” Dow told The Detroit News. “We don’t have skyscrapers and parking garages, so for us, understanding that difference and leaning into what makes us tick, in the sense that now we’re leaning into all the neighborhoods and all the homes and our rich tailgate history and that kind of — parking in neighborhoods and paying $40 for a beer, brat and a bathroom and becoming friends with the people in the home you’re parking at.”

When Dobek attended the NFL Draft in Kansas City, NFL executive vice president of club business and league events Peter O’Reilly used an analogy that stuck with him throughout the planning of Detroit’s draft.

“The NFL Draft is a Broadway play, and your city is the main character in that play. How you bring that character to life is on you as a city,” Dobek recalled.

The NFL Draft in Green Bay might not be able to reset the attendance record, but it does have something no other NFL city can offer: A chance to visit the game’s most legendary venue. The experience for outside fans hinges on witnessing history in a place that’s already chock-full of it.

Green Bay’s relationship with football is not subtle; in fact, the city’s flag has a Packers logo square in the center. Love or hate them, you have to respect how the people of this 107,000-person town revere the game that’s made them a destination. Football is the main character of Green Bay 365 days a year; Dow said the Packers are leaning heavily into this bond.

“The Green Bay Packers, obviously, are older than the NFL, and I would say adding to that is that another thing we can show off is the fact that people can come to the Mecca of football,” she said. “We’re kind of the church of all NFL stadiums.”

The city of Detroit kept the focus on itself over its three-day chance to host the event, and rightfully so. While most of its surrounding suburbs have grown over the last half-century, Detroit’s population has dwindled. It was on an island; it’s been the butt of jokes; its people were counted out. The city deserved to celebrate itself and only itself.

What makes this weekend’s celebration a bit different is that Green Bay is also serving as the representative for all of small-town Wisconsin. In addition to drawing inspiration from its legendary stadium and team — the winner of four Super Bowls and nine additional NFL championships — it’s also highlighting traditions that extend beyond city limits.

Expect to hear a lot about cheese curds, beer brats, corn mazes and front-yard parking lots. On Saturday, a polka band is playing at the draft. While this year’s event will have a much different look and feel to the one in Detroit, its goal is the same: To honor the home fans and where they come from.

“We’re really showcasing the best of the state of Wisconsin in terms of its culture, its character, its people. ‘Midwest nice’ is a real thing, and our agriculture, whether it’s the dairy business or the farming business, we did a lot of that this year,” Dow said.

Despite the differences, Dow said the decision-makers in Detroit were extremely helpful from start to finish, something she plans to uphold when speaking with the shot-callers in Pittsburgh, the site of next year’s draft weekend.

“The people that put on the draft (in Detroit) … were open and willing to really peel back and tell us everything from soup to nuts,” Dow said. “Detroit was the best city that gave us the most, and we were greatly appreciative.

“We’re successful because they were willing to be honest and open about everything, and that was fantastic.”

On the field, Detroit and Green Bay have developed a riveting rivalry over the last few seasons. Off it, their cohesion has the chance to make this weekend one to remember for fans from all over.