NEW YORK -- The 2012 NFL Draft won't begin for another four hours, but that doesn't mean it's quiet inside Radio City Music Hall.
The place is buzzing, with dozens of people milling around, doing their various jobs before the crowd filters in and the curtain goes up.
NFL Network's live draft coverage
Our coverage of the 2012 NFL Draft begins well before the Colts' first overall pick. Tune in for live coverage beginning at 11 a.m. ET through the first round.
I took a walk around to get a feel for the old place, using NFL photo czar and draft veteran Ben Liebenberg as my guide.
• Radio City is looking quite vibrant dressed up in its NFL garb. The building is 80 years old, but you wouldn't guess it tonight. This is the seventh consecutive year the event has been held here.
• Smack in front of the stage are the tables for each of the 32 teams. This is where a draft pick is officially made before being handed to an NFL official. Each table has a helmet, two headsets, four bottles of Gatorade, two telephones and a jar of M&M's in the team's colors (a nice touch). Two leather chairs with a team logo embroidered to the back class up the joint.
• I snuck behind the stage, where I encountered Commissioner Roger Goodell's
lair
green room. The room features three televisions, a coffee table, four love seats and two couches. The furniture is all white, giving the room a certain swinging London vibe. There's an unusual amount of orange soda on the concession table. After Gregg Rosenthal tweeted out a pic of the room, one tweeter responded, "Needs lava lamps and a faux Tiger skin." I will attempt to get this suggestion to Rog.
• On the opposite side of the backstage area is the players' green room. It includes 26 tables for each of the first-round hopefuls that were invited by the league. Each table has a football on it with a player's name. I think for a moment how much I could fetch for RG3's ball on the underground market, but ultimately I decided to keep my job.
My next trip is outside the building ...
