SPORTS WRAP
BY WILLIAM HATHAWAY, JR.
PHOTO COURTESY RAE OLIVER
The 2026 NFL Draft took place in Pittsburgh, with over 300,000 people coming out to support their teams.
To no surprise, the Oakland Raiders took National Champion, Heisman Trophy Winner and Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza with the 1st overall pick.
Then, the New York Jets were up, and chose Texas Tech linebacker David Bailey over Ohio State LB Arvell Reese with the 2nd pick. Reese would not wait long, as the New York Giants took him 5th overall, after the Arizona Cardinals picked Notre Dame RB Jeremiyah Love 3rd and the Tennessee Titans took Ohio State WR Cardell Tate 4th. “The” Ohio State University would not be done on Night One of the Draft, as Sonny Styles would be taken #7 by Washington and Caleb Downs would go #11 to Dallas.
Meanwhile, the local teams would return to the stage, as the Giants took Francis Mauigoa out of Miami (Fl.) with the 10th pick, which came via the Dexter Lawrence trade to the Cincinnati Bengals. The Jets would then come back and take Oregon TE Kenyon Sadiq at #15 and Indiana WR Omar Cooper, Jr. to cap off a fruitful first round.
Other notable picks include the LA Rams taking Alabama QB Ty Simpson at #13 despite already having NFL MVP Matthew Stafford under center.
However, the highlight around these parts has to be the selection of East Orange native Kyle Louis. The East Orange Campus High School alumnus and all state player went on to play linebacker at the University of Pittsburgh, where he earned ACC honors and be named an All American. He made enough of an impression for the Miami Dolphins, who took him 138th overall in the 4th Round.
During him time at EOCHS, Louis led the Jaguars to a 13-0 undefeated season and the North Group 5 title. In the championship game against Clifton, Louis had a 90-yard runback that led the Jags to a 30-24 overtime victory.
In other sports, the New York Red Bulls were recently at home in Harrison at Sports Illustrated Stadium. Their match with the DC United finished with a 4-4 tie. One notable highlight came in the 15th minute midfielder, when Adri Mehmeti played a ball forward to midfielder Ron Donkor who then found forward Julian Hall who struck a shot into the back of the net.
