Fayette County business headed to Chicago for NFL Draft
Kelly Tunney | Herald-Standard
Colivia Jones of Stahl’s Decorating Fulfillment Center in Masontown sorts through laser-cut names in preparation for the NFL draft tonight. Each of the 25 top draftees’ names is printed in each of the 31 NFL team colors and typefaces. When the player is drafted, the Stahl’s team finds their name in the correct team’s typeface and turns out three jerseys in 90 seconds, one of which is taken onstage to announce the player’s new affiliation.
Kelly Tunney | Herald-Standard
If Ohio State cornerback Eli Apple is drafted by the New Orleans Saints, one of three laser-cut appliques of his name will be held up on a jersey by Apple and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. If Apple is drafted by any of the other NFL teams, Stahl’s Decorating Fulfillment has versions of his name in those teams’ colors as well.
Kelly Tunney | Herald-Standard
Jones lays out the Bengals versions of the first-round NFL draftees’ names. Stahl’s is in charge of quickly customizing football jerseys backstage that are used to announce draft picks at the NFL Draft in Chicago.
Stahl’s produces three copies of 25 draftees’ names in each of the 32 NFL teams’ typefaces, which they have ready to go when the team announces their draft pick.
Within 90 seconds, the Stahls team finds the player’s name in the correct team’s typefaces and customizes three jerseys. The remaining 30 teams’ versions of the players’ names are never used.
Kelly Tunney | Herald-Standard
Stahls Decorating Fulfillment Center will be taking kiosks like this to the NFL Draft in Chicago this month for fans to create their own jerseys. The fan experience is just one side of Stahls’ Draft involvement, the main component of which is to quickly customize team jerseys for draft prospects as they are announced.
For Stahl’s Decorating Fulfillment Center in Masontown, it’s all a game of numbers.
Twenty-five top draftees, 32 NFL teams, 93 jerseys, 2,840 custom font appliques, 90 seconds.
During this year’s NFL Draft, a trained crew from the small Fayette County town will travel to Chicago to create custom football jerseys for the nationwide, televised event.
The crew has less than two minutes to apply laser-cut appliques to three jerseys — one of which will be held up by the newly selected pro football player and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell before a prestigious audience April 28-30.
“It can be pretty nerve-wracking; there’s a lot of people watching,” said Stahl DFC production manager Cathi Christopher.
Christopher said this is their fifth year working with Nike for the NFL draft. She said Nike officials wanted to “raise the bar” when they took over contracting for the NFL uniforms. Stahls — longtime partners with Nike — were contracted to “make it the next cool thing” and help them execute their new project.
There has been a lot of coordination between Stahl’s and Nike to make this project a success, she said.
This year, the Los Angeles Rams have the first draft pick.
In those crucial 90 seconds, an official from the NFL will relay the draftee’s name to DFC crew members. Workers will then hastily locate the draftee’s last name in a box of alphabetized appliques and place it on the first jersey that has already been loaded onto a heat press.
The first, prized jersey makes it directly to the stage, while the other ones will go to NFL officials and a trading card company.
“This is a game changer for the NFL, as well as for the draft picks, because it is the first time the draftee sees their name on the jersey of the NFL team they will be representing — and we are able to make it happen at the very moment their professional career starts,” Christopher said.
While the magic will happen in Chicago, much of the brunt work was completed in the weeks leading up to it for crews at both Stahl’s and Nike, she said.
In addition to packing and moving the equipment necessary to complete the tasks, DFC crews also had to tediously program each draftee’s last name in every NFL team’s specialized font with the help of a computer program.
“We have no idea what team they’ll go to, or what font they’ll need, so we cut every single team’s font for the 25 first-round draft picks that are confirmed to be there,” she said. There will be roughly 2,840 font appliqués cut, a majority of which will be discarded, she added.
“It takes an enormous amount of effort,” she said.
Last year, their efforts were increased as the NFL celebrated its 50th anniversary. All of the names had to be in gold and required a different material.
“Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong,” Christopher said with a laugh. They were able to pull it off, though, she said.
During the three-day event in the Windy City, Stahl’s was also contracted to create custom draft T-shirts complete with team patches and the customer’s last name for “DraftTown.”
More than 300,000 fans visited the NFL Fan Festival in Grant Park last year. During this year’s “DraftTown,” fans will also have a chance to order personalized replica jerseys for five different teams.
“This is the biggest crew that we’ve ever taken to any event, so it’s pretty exciting,” Christopher said.
“This gives our people an opportunity to get out of town and experience something that they might never get to do again. It’s really exciting to be in the middle of all of this,” she added.
In addition to garment decorating contracts with the NFL, Stahl’s DFC also holds licenses for other major sports leagues including the NBA, NHL and MLB. They also service local “mom and pop” establishments, dabble in the promotional market and operate a full-service warehouse.