Montclair NFL Draft Party Kicks Off Year of Events

Thursday’s NFL Draft kicked off the start of a year of festivities and events in Montclair leading up to Super Bowl XLVIII.

A portion of Glenridge Avenue was closed down in front of The Clubhouse Thursday night as residents gathered there to watch the NFL Draft and celebrate the coming of the Super Bowl to the Meadowlands in eight months. The NFL Draft Night Party was the first of many events that will be put on by the Montclair 2014 Super Bowl Host Committee. 

“Since the draft is the first event for the NFL for the upcoming season, we decided to have a draft night party,” said Member of the Super Bowl Committee and former councilman Brian Scantlebury. “It’s all to drum up support for our activities throughout the year.” 

The evening was like a giant tailgate party and kicked off the unofficial start to the NFL season in grand fashion. Residents ate roasted pig, cornbread, beans and other game day victuals, drank beer, listened to live music  and watched the draft on big screen televisions. 

Scantlebury said the draft party was a great success because it brought out both the hardcore NFL watchers and the less fanatic. 

And broadcasting live from The Clubhouse and offering an analysis of the draft was Montclair TV34’s Three Wise Men, WFAN call-in favorites Mike from Montclair, Al from White Plains and Dennis from Yonkers. 

With the Meadowlands is less than 10 miles away, Montclair was chosen last year as a recommended place to visit during the Super Bowl, along with Jersey City, Hoboken, the Morristown/Florham Park area and Ridgewood.