PITTSBURGH — The runway up to the NFL draft can feel endless for the young men who put themselves under its exacting process. Years of hard work followed by weeks of being poked and prodded, culminating in days of anxiety-inducing uncertainty while they wait for their name to be called.The end finally arrives this weekend when the 2026 draft descends on Pittsburgh, a city that in many ways serves as a metaphor for the NFL’s marquee offseason event.The most direct way into town for many visitors is through a stretch of western Pennsylvania hills and anonymous suburbia before you descend — almost always in bumper-to-bumper traffic, no matter the time of day, for reasons that mystify even the locals — into the Fort Pitt tunnel, 3,614 feet of darkness that offers little hint of what lies on the other side.Reaching downtown Pittsburgh, like reaching the NFL, takes patience. Once you get there, however, the reward can be incredible as the city — like each draft prospect’s future — spreads out in front of you, rife with possibilities. Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love, hoping to become the third running back taken in the top 10 in the last four years, found himself caught off balance when he made the trip in earlier this week.“Nice views, nice views,” Love said on Wednesday, less than 36 hours before Thursday night’s first round. “When you came out of that little tunnel or whatever, I don’t …
