Behind the scenes of the 2012 NFL Draft broadcast
SI.com Media Circus columnist Richard Deitsch gets an insider’s perspective ahead of this weekend’s broadcast of the NFL Draft. Deitsch writes, “On Thursday night, inside a production truck on a side street near Radio City Music Hall, Charlie Yook will be making multiple decisions about what you see during the NFL Draft.
As a senior producer for the NFL Network, Yook will be informed of a team’s pick about 90 seconds before NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announces it to the world. He’ll ask one of his colleagues inside the truck for what he calls “a baseball card graphic,” which is a full-screen graphic of biographical information of the draft pick. Another staffer will call up a package of highlights on the player while Yook or another producer might feed NFL Network host Rich Eisen an interesting detail unearthed by research. If a trend emerges — say a cornerback has not been selected for 25 picks — NFL Network senior researcher Chad Reuter will let Yook know that it might be worth using in the broadcast. “As long as I have a graphic, video, a nugget, and some discussion about the pick, I feel pretty confident,” said Yook, who is working his sixth draft for the NFL Network. “I think the audience wants to know, ‘How did my team do? How does this help my team? And what does this all mean?’ They also want to see cool footage of kids.”
While ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. and the NFL Network’s Mike Mayock will be the front men for the three-day selectapalooza that begins Thursday night, there’s a core group of behind-the-scenes staffers at ESPN and the NFL Network who work endless hours unearthing the factoids and footage for the next wave of NFL talent.”
Click here to read Deitsch’s full report from backstage in NYC.
