Meet Roger Goodell’s NFL Draft Night Pronunciation Whisperer

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has been announcing the names of each year’s 32 first-round draft picks since 2007, which has included some uncomfortable moments.

In 2015, Goodell mispronounced Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota’s name when the Titans selected him No. 2 overall. “Marcus Marioto,” Goodell said. The commissioner later called the 2014 Heisman Trophy winner to apologize.

In recent years, the NFL has made a strong effort to avoid those hiccups—and that’s where Lucy Popko fits into the story.

A Penn alum and now the NFL’s manager of broadcasting and media distribution, Popko wears a number of hats at the league office, from working with network partners on tentpole events to international game planning and even data and analytics for the regular-season schedule.

Since 2022, Popko has been Goodell’s go-to during the draft and the last person he talks to before walking out on stage to announce each pick.

“Honestly, it’s a little bit nerve-wracking at times to make sure he goes out there and is fully prepped,” Popko told Front Office Sports Thursday afternoon ahead of the first round. “But I feel like we’ve built up a good rapport over the past couple of years.”

The process starts at the NFL Scouting Combine, when Popko records every player she can, saying their names. Then, after some mock draft research, she creates a PowerPoint presentation of all the top prospects with audio snippets of their names.

As the draft nears, Popko’s work with Goodell begins.

“We usually sit down a couple of times,” she said. “We’ll sit down in New York and just make sure—before all of the draft commotion even starts—we do an initial run through to just give him a preview of some of the names we’re seeing and expecting for him to be saying Night 1.”

This week, Popko met with Goodell one final time Wednesday in Pittsburgh after he completed his walkthrough of the draft theater that will welcome hundreds of thousands of fans this weekend.

Once the draft begins, Popko and Goodell stay close all night, rehearsing every name after a team’s pick is in. “We usually go over it a couple of times, make sure he’s got it down, ready to go, and then we send him out there,” she said.

This year’s toughest name is Olaivavega Ioane, the Penn State guard projected to go in the top half of the first round. 

But it’s not always about tricky pronunciations. Last year, No. 1 pick Cam Ward specifically requested that Goodell announce him using his full first name, Cameron, Popko said.

Popko will stay in Pittsburgh for all three days of the draft, guiding everyone making picks throughout the seven rounds, from international fans to team legends to celebrities and more.

“It gets a little crazy on Day 3,” Popko said. “But we want to make sure we’re doing a little bit of oversight to make sure everyone at least is coached as best we can.”

Popko wasn’t in her role when the Jaguars used the No. 25 pick in the 2021 draft on running back Travis Etienne Jr., who recently revealed teammates, the media, and fans had been saying his last name wrong. 

“I’m happy now that we have this process of actually talking to these guys and making sure we’re recording their names,” Popko said. “Because maybe then we can hopefully avoid having things like that in the future—making sure when someone’s introduced to the league, they’re introducing themselves in the way that they would like to be called and have their names said.”