The folks at Stahl’s are on the clock, and they’ll have custom jerseys ready to go just seconds after a pick is made during the NFL draft in downtown Detroit.
With a little more than 24 hours to go before the Chicago Bears go on the clock, the St. Clair Shores company is getting ready for go-time.
Stahls will make custom jerseys for each player in under a minute. They gave Local 4 an inside look at the process that’ll be happening behind the scenes on Thursday (April 25) night.
There isn’t a school kid in America or a sports fan from anywhere who doesn’t know about getting fresh attire with pressed-on logos and the like for game day.
Stahl’s can make all of the gameday gear, and it is where they make their money, but there’s one day a year that is special above all others.
We learned it in 2012 when the Indianapolis Colts selected quarterback Andrew Luck.
While Luck may be a distant memory, the magic trick the NFL performs when it announces a name like former Michigan Wolverines standout Aiden Hutchinson remains.
The Sed player walks to the stage and gets a Roger Goodell bear hug. Almost out of thin air, a personalized, monogrammed team jersey No. 1 awaits him.
No, it’s not pre-made, as the sleight of hand happens every year now, thanks to Stahl’s Vice President of Strategic Sales Brent Kisha.
“It’s always stressful,” said Kisha.
With 30 million people watching at home and thousands more screaming, in-person fans, Kisha and his crew of three others need to find the right team jersey, spell the player’s name correctly, heat press the twill lettering on the back, and hand it off to the commissioner in about 30 seconds.
“It’s expensive because sometimes you’ve got a green room that has a lot of people in it, and think about that, making that name for all 32 teams in the colorway and font,” Kisha said.
They have a rolling rack for jerseys; there are two heat presses backstage because the trading card companies want a jersey fast, too.
The name comes from the stage over a headset, and Kisha applies the letters. After 12 seconds under heat, he peels off off the backing.
“The adrenaline rush is like when I played competitive golf as a kid, right,” Kisha said. “There was nothing better than being the guy to make that last putt from five feet right.”