GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Cam Ward, Travis Hunter, Abdul Carter and 12 other prospects will walk the red carpet at Lambeau Field before going backstage at the NFL draft theater to wait for their name to be called Thursday night.
All their hard work paid off. It’s time to enjoy the moment before joining their new teams to work even harder.
“I think a lot us prospects had a big dream and we’re accomplishing it right now,” Ward said. “Not a lot of people get this opportunity and I’m going to make the most of mine.”
Ward shouldn’t wait long. The Tennessee Titans are poised to select the Miami quarterback with the No. 1 overall pick. Hunter, the two-way star and Heisman Trophy winner from Colorado, is likely heading to the Cleveland Browns with the second pick. Carter, a premier edge rusher out of Penn State, is a favorite to go third to the New York Giants but that’s not guaranteed.
“Definitely got a good feeling with them,” Carter said about New York. “We’ll see what happens tomorrow.”
There’s a lot of uncertainty entering this draft, especially surrounding the quarterbacks and Shedeur Sanders. Ward, Sanders, Jaxson Dart and Jalen Milroe could make it four QBs in the first round, though the consensus is fewer will go.
Running back Ashton Jeanty is making a push to sneak into the top five, tight end Tyler Warren is a potential top-10 pick and wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan has a chance to be in the top 15.
It’ll be a draft loaded with players in the trenches. It’s possible more than half the first-round picks will be offensive linemen and defensive linemen.
Carter, Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham and Texas A& M edge Shemar Stewart are attending the draft so they’ll get a chance to hug NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on stage.
LSU tackle Will Campbell and Alabama guard Tyler Booker are the offensive linemen who’ll hear their name called in person.
The Philadelphia Eagles won the Super Bowl by dominating the Kansas City Chiefs in the trenches. They also had elite skiller players Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley, A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith.
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Draft prospect, Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter, works with local youth football players and Special Olympics athletes during the league's annual prospect clinic ahead of the NFL football draft Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Draft prospect Travis Hunter of Colorado works with local youth football players and Special Olympics athletes during the league's annual prospect clinic ahead of the NFL football draft Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
FILE - Miami quarterback Cam Ward watches a drill at the NFL football scouting combine in Indianapolis, Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV,File)
CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland (AP) — In the aftermath of a fire inside a Swiss Alpine bar that killed 40 people celebrating the new year, survivors, friends and family members, the region’s top authorities and even Pope Leo have spoken to the public in remarks in French, Italian, German and English, reflecting the tradition of Swiss multilingualism.
Another 119 people were injured in the blaze early Thursday as it ripped through the busy Le Constellation bar at the ski resort of Crans-Montana, authorities said. It was one of the deadliest tragedies in Switzerland’s history.
Investigators said Friday that they believe sparkling candles atop Champagne bottles ignited the fatal fire when they came too close to the ceiling of the crowded bar.
Here’s a look at what people said in the wake of the disaster:
— “I’m looking everywhere. The body of my son is somewhere,” Laetitia Brodard told reporters Friday in Crans-Montana as she searched for her son, 16-year-old Arthur. “I want to know, where is my child, and be by his side. Wherever that may be, be it in the intensive care unit or the morgue.”
— “We were bringing people out, people were collapsing. We were doing everything we could to save them, we helped as many as we could. We saw people screaming, running,” Marc-Antoine Chavanon, 14, told The Associated Press in Crans-Montana on Friday, recounting how he rushed to the bar to help the injured. “There was one of our friends: She was struggling to get out, she was all burned. You can’t imagine the pain I saw.”
— “It was hard to live through for everyone. Also probably because everyone was asking themselves, ‘Was my child, my cousin, someone from the region at this party?’” Eric Bonvin, general director of the regional hospital in Sion that took in dozens of injured people, told AP on Friday. “This place was very well known as somewhere to celebrate the new year,” Bonvin said. “Also, seeing young people arrive — that’s always traumatic.”
— “I have seen horror, and I don’t know what else would be worse than this,” Gianni Campolo, a Swiss 19-year-old who was in Crans-Montana on vacation and rushed to the bar to help first responders, told France's TF1 television.
—“You will understand that the priority today is truly placed on identification, in order to allow the families to begin their mourning,” Beatrice Pilloud, the Valais region's attorney general, told reporters Friday during a news conference in Sion.
Pope Leo said in a telegram Friday to the bishop of Sion that he " wishes to express his compassion and concern to the relatives of the victims. He prays that the Lord will welcome the deceased into His abode of peace and light, and will sustain the courage of those who suffer in their hearts or in their bodies.”
— “We have numerous accounts of heroic actions, one could say of very strong solidarity in the moment,” Cantonal head of government Mathias Reynard told RTS radio Friday. "In the first minutes it was citizens — and in large part young people — who saved lives with their courage.”
— “Switzerland is a strong country not because it is sheltered from drama, but because it knows how to face them with courage and a spirit of mutual help," Swiss President Guy Parmelin, speaking on his first day in the position that changes hands annually, told reporters Thursday.
People bring flowers near the sealed off Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, where a devastating fire left dead and injured during the New Year's celebrations. (AP Photo/ Antonio Calanni)
A woman holding a stuffed animal, whose daughter is missing, gather with others near the sealed-off Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, where a devastating fire left dead and injured during the New Year's celebrations. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)
People light candles near the sealed off Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, where a devastating fire left dead and injured during the New Year's celebrations. (AP Photo/ Antonio Calanni)
