Great Racers know Ted Stahl and GroupeStahl as the man and the company which provides the wild and popular Great Race shirts during the event each year. They have become known in Great Race circles simply as the “Stahl Shirts.” And most are aware the company does a lot of T-shirts around the world with his heat transfer printing process. But not everyone is aware of how involved the company is with the NFL draft and having those jerseys ready for the first round announcements on stage just seconds after the player has been selected. This will mark the eighth year Stahls has partnered with Nike during the NFL draft when it takes place later this month. We thought you would like to read what Ted Stahl said about it last year on his personal blog, and there is a link at the end to watch a short video of the process.

For the past seven years, Stahls’ has partnered with Nike during the NFL Draft  to make the seemingly impossible happen: The NFL Commissioner hands over a jersey to a newly drafted player complete with the player’s name. In order for this to happen at the NFL Draft, a team from Stahls’ is literally behind a curtain, heat printing the chosen name on the correct jersey in under two minutes. How do we go from a blank jersey to the finished jersey in under two minutes? Anyone with a heat press understands how quickly you can add a name and number to a shirt, but there is a lot of preparation behind the scenes involved to make this magic happen on live TV.  It’s quite an intense process, requiring the team at STAHLS’ Decorating Fulfillment Center to create and cut nameplates to match each team jersey font and color for draft prospects in advance. With the NFL Draft taking place this week in Dallas, there are lots of backstories being broadcast. We’re proud to have a very interesting backstory of our own. Josh Ellsworth, VP of Dealer Sales for GroupeSTAHL had the opportunity to talk to the local press about Stahls’ “behind the scenes” role. And in case you’re wondering, they are applying Stahls’ Perma-Twill names and number using a Hotronix heat press. Perma-Twill requires no sewing and has a permanent adhesive after proper heat printing.  

Trevor Stahl posted this short video of the process on his Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/stahlt04/videos/10100312088290065/