The Green Room

There’s nothing like being a future pro-player, invited into The Green Room for the NFL Draft.

Fans get to watch the Draft from the comfort and anonymity of a sports bar or living room. Fans dress for the NFL Draft in their best jeans and team jersey of their choice.

The Green Room is the place to be for the top projected picks decked out in their best suits, with wristwatches that cost as much as Corvette’s.

All eyes are on those select few lucky enough to be awarded entry into The Green Room.

On Saturday, Jake Long, Chris Long, Glenn Dorsey, Vernon Gholston, Matt Ryan, and Darren McFadden are on The Green Room’s guest list.

Historically, for most of the invited players, it’s a quick lunch, some chatter, and then they’re flown away on a private plane for a media blitz in their new city.

It sounds like a lot of glitz and glamour, and usually it is.

Dating back to 1994, The Green Room has been a safe haven for overall picks No. 1 and No. 2.

1993 was the last year that the second overall pick wasn’t backstage at The NFL Draft. And for the most part, the people admitted to the NFL’s biggest draft party have come and gone rather quickly.

However, The Green Room can also turn into the loneliest, most uncomfortable place on Earth if you stick around too long. Just ask Aaron Rogers and Brady Quinn.

Twice in the past three years, The Green Room has housed players picked in the twenties. Rogers went 24^th to the Packers in 2005. Quinn was finally taken by the Browns with the 22^nd pick last year.

Rogers was left alone in The Green Room for 16 selections after Antrelle Rolle went eighth. 16 picks times 15 minutes per selection equals four hours. Maybe it wasn’t that long, but you get the idea.

Adrian Peterson, who went seventh, was the next-to-last Green Room pick a year ago. After Peterson’s exit, things got ugly for Quinn.

Who can forget Quinn exhaling after each selection? The top button on his shirt came undone when he fell outside the top ten. Quinn’s hair became disheveled after about the 15^th pick. Eventually, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell put Quinn out of his misery.

The league’s ultimate strong man allowed Quinn to leave The Green Room to escape the camera’s eye. After roughly five hours, Quinn was chosen by Cleveland.

You gotta love The Green Room.

Arguably, the biggest storylines in two of the last three drafts have unfolded right in front of us. We haven’t needed Mel Kiper or Todd McShay’s expert analysis.

Maybe that’s what makes it so compelling. None of the talking heads have to weigh-in with their opinions. We know what we’re looking at. It’s a train-wreck, and we’re all guilty of pulling over to witness the carnage of some poor kid losing millions after every pick.

Who knows if things will be better this time around for the invited players?

Jake Long already has a deal done with Miami. That’s one guy out of the mix.

Dorsey, Gholston, and Chris Long are all defensive lineman and relatively safe picks.

That leaves Ryan and McFadden.

Does Ryan’s presence in The Green Room continue the quarterback curse, or do character issues sidetrack McFadden?

If it’s the latter, McFadden will need more than 4.3 speed to escape the train-wreck we’re all watching at home.