NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was loudly booed inside Radio City Music Hall just prior to the start of the NFL draft on Thursday night.

The crowd jeered Goodell -- who has presided over the league that locked out players on March 12 -- and drowned out the commissioner's words from the podium.

"I hear you, I hear you," Goodell said as the boos rained down upon him.

The crowd then broke into a chant of "We want football! ... We want football!"

Said Goodell, "I agree with you ... I agree. Me too."

The crowd's cries dissipated as Goodell asked the assembled masses to observe a moment of silence for the victims of the devastating storms in several southern states earlier this week.

Goodell was booed again when he announced the start of the draft. But he was finally able to get some cheers when he talked about actually playing football.

"Let's get back to some football," he said, to the delight of the crowd.

The boos were a sign of the discontent many fans feel with the NFL after the league's first work stoppage since 1987.

Rebuked twice by a federal judge this week, the league said it would end the lockout and begin limited football operations on Friday. The start of the new league year will follow soon after.

But with the NFL asking an appeal court to reinstate its lockout, there is a risk that the doors could be shuttered again.

Goodell typically mingles with fans at the draft, and he didn't stay away from that tradition on Thursday. He met with fans outside Radio City Music Hall before the draft.