The jersey for 1st choice draft pick Andrew Luck. A similar shirt was presented last night to David Letterman by Andrew Luck.

As we mentioned yesterday, DFC is behind the scenes at the NFL Draft, heat printing personalized jerseys as the player’s names are called. Heat printing is accomplished in under 90 seconds! In case you are wondering…here’s how it’s done. There is a great series of photos on the Nike Football Facebook page.

View from the stage where the NFL draft picks will be presented with their new, personalized NFL Nike jerseys that were personalized by Stahls' DFC in less than 90 seconds of the announcement on live TV! Watch it tonight!

The Stahls’ DFC team is set up and ready to heat print “behind the curtain” (like in the Wizard of Oz) at Radio City Music Hall in NYC, ready to produce the personalized Nike jerseys for the new NFL draft picks as soon as their names are announced. Once the announcement is made, each First Round Draft Pick’s name will be heat printed on the respective jersey within 90 seconds of being announced on Live TV. All First Round Players will be greeted by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on stage and presented with their NFL Team jersey. Congratulations and good luck to all the First Round Draft Picks! Watch live tonight at 8pm Eastern time

The team from Stahls' Decorating Fulfillment Center is ready and waiting for the draft to begin so they can start heat printing on demand.

What’s the only way to print a shirt just minutes after a player’s name is announced for a specific team? Heat printing. That’s why a team from Stahls’ DFC will be on  hand, live at the NFL Draft to personalize shirts as they are drafted. The draft takes place at Radio City Music Hall in New York and you can tune in for wall-to-wall coverage of the 77th annual NFL draft Thursday, April 26 through Saturday, April 28. You can watch and follow all the excitement on NFL.com.

This Under Armour jersey was heat printed with Stahls' CAD-CUT Gorilla Grip II.

The folks at Stahls’ Decorating Fulfillment Center (DFC) let me know that a jersey decorated with Gorilla Grip II  heat transfer material made the cover of Sports Illustrated! When you need to print performance wear, all you need is a heat press.

How to print on backpacks? With a combination of Elasti Prints transfers and CAD-CUT Premium Plus. Heat printing makes it possible.

Last weekend, March 9-11 2012, GroupeSTAHL companies partnered with New Balance in New York City at The Armory for the 2012 National Indoor Championship Track Meet.  There were 4,200 of the best track and field athletes from across the US on site to participate in this competition, and each received a commemorative backpack at registration with the option to personalize. What was the only way to get the job done? Heat printing of course. A team of heat printing experts that included Carol Johnston and  Lisa Halliday (Stahls’ DFC), Greg Szaraz (Stahls’ Transfer Express) and Joe Kosinski (Stahls’ CAD-CUT Direct) assisted in personalizing over 3,500 bags for the attendees. How did they do it? With a combination of Elasti Prints screen printed transfers, (Elasti Prints provide the look and feel of direct screen printing, can be purchased in any color, and are great for single or multiple color transfers), CAD-CUT®  Premium Plus heat transfer material, and  applied with Hotronix® Fusion heat  presses. The custom graphics were designed and prepared for vinyl cutter output using CadWorxLive.com.

According to Dave Wheatley, Chief Sales Officer for GroupeSTAHL, ”This project helped New Balance enhance their brand with a very important demographic. Many of the athletes personalized in a style that shared their name, thousands of clever nicknames, their event or general track and field specialty, and in numerous instances, their Twitter handle. At the conclusion of a very exciting weekend, around 3,500 kids had built exclusive, personal, meaningful backpacks to mark their accomplishment in earning the chance to compete in this prestigious event.” Our ability to offer on-site personalization on something that is considered difficult to print and/or personalize made us an extremely popular destination.

This is a huge milestone in event personalization and it is another service you can offer your customers at events or in your store.

Here are some athletes photographed in the subway station, all wearing their customized backpacks. Now that's branding.

In case you were wondering, the one thing the Top 10 NFL 2012 Combine athletes have in common, besides being phenomenal athletes, is that they are wearing Under Armour® jerseys that were custom heat printed with Stahls’ heat transfer materials. Specifically, CAD-CUT® ECONOPRINT heat transfer material in white for application on any cotton blend or 50/50 items, and CAD-CUT Gorilla Grip II in both black and white for application on the performance fabrics such as Under Armour’s HeatGear® . Just like last year, the team from Stahls’ Decorating Fulfillment Center (DFC) decorated over 2,500 custom items for the players, and yes, it was all done with heat printing.

Outside the NBA 2012 Jam Session--inside is where all the action--heat printing and otherwise--is taking place.

The team from Stahls’ DFC, along with Gameday Merchandising team members have been busy heat printing the jerseys for the Sprint Celebrity Game 2012 that will take place tomorrow night. Carl Agosta of Stahls’ DFC forwarded me a few more photos, including Justin Bieber and Ne-Yo’s jerseys. Another celebrity at the booth seems to be the Hotronix Fusion–it’s getting rave reviews from the Gameday staff, according to Carl Agosta.

Hot off the Hotronix Fusion heat press, Justin Bieber's jersey for the Sprint Celebrity match-up. Gameday team members call the Fusion "the best heat press they've ever used."

Steve Johnson of the Buffalo Bills tries on a San Jose Sharks hockey jersey at the Stahls' DFC booth at the Sports Licensing Show last week. Photo courtesy of Carl Agosta, Stahls' DFC.

It’s not everyday you see a football player wearing a hockey jersey  but when Steve Johnson of the NFL’s Buffalo Bills stopped by the Stahls’ DFC (Decorating Fulfillment Center) at the recent Sports Licensing Show, he liked the San Jose Sharks sample jersey so much he wanted to try it on.  Carl Agosta of Stahls’ DFC snapped the photo and emailed it to me. The jersey was decorated by Stahls’ DFC with sewn twill.  If you are going to be in Long Beach, CA at the Imprinted Sportswear Show, I will be at the Stahls’ ID booth on Friday and Saturday so stop in and say hello. You can find us in booths 1308-1309.

My brother Brian, his wife Jan, Ricki, and my wife Mary and me on October 23rd. Mom's last public outing at her favorite restaurant.

It is with great sadness we share that we have lost our dearest mother, mother-in-law, grandmother, great grandmother, sister, aunt, past co-worker and friend; but find comfort that she is now at peace in eternal life with her husband Ernie and son Craig and all the other family members and friends that have gone before her. If you ever had the chance to meet Ricki in person, you know she exuded life and always put the needs of others before her own. Even though she had an impoverished childhood, losing her father at age 12 and growing up during the Great Depression, she was always a hard worker who contributed to her family’s well-being and also became a competitive swimmer. She was tenacious and loved life.

Most of you know she was instrumental in the founding of Stahls’, cutting the first letters on the kick press and doing countless other jobs, both at the company and on the home front to support the success of this now world-renowned group of companies. She has literally touched and improved thousands of lives around the world over the years and her legacy and spirit will always be remembered. A true giver, Ricki was always involved with supporting not just her family, but also trying to enrich the lives of others. She helped bring a hot lunch program to an area middle school and was involved in various charities such as The Make a Wish Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, The Humane Society.

As a person she was always loving and forgiving. She had a huge heart, not only for her beloved children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, but everyone with whom she came in contact. She was always thinking about the comfort and happiness of those around her; be it for the nurses, doctors and fellow patients when she was in the hospital or for her many friends in the Sunrise living community. Everyone who met Ricki was a recipient of her gracious and loving ways. Ricki loved the woods, the outdoors, the warm sun and the water. She was an avid fisherwoman, golfer and could not leave a domino or Mahjong tile unturned. As a golfer, she never made her “hole in one” here on Earth, but if they have golf courses in heaven, we know that she is up there working on that.

To honor Ricki’s legacy and her commitment to helping others, we will also be setting up a Ricki Stahl Memorial Scholarship. More details to follow soon. Thank you for your prayers and support during this difficult time. It is hard to believe that only last Oct 17th she was given a standing ovation for her lifetime of service at a GroupeSTAHL Town Hall Meeting. Mom, you will be missed but never forgotten.

Source: Ricki Stahl: April 13, 1918 - October 29, 2011 (http://tedstahl.com/2011/10/ricki-stahl-april-131918-oct-292011/) by Ted Stahl

Are you ready for some football? Stahls' DFC created 120 custom UnderArmour jerseys for a recent Gamers Vs. Famers game that was played last weekend.

Taking a one-day break in my How to Sell More T-shirts series, to share the news that Stahls’ DFC (Decorating Fulfillment Center) produced garments for UnderArmour for an hour long special that will air before the New Orleans Saints / Oakland Raiders game that will be held on August 28^th at 7PM. It is an hour long event. DFC produced the garments in less than 24 hours (approx 120 units). The players were actors and retired players. The EA SPORTS Madden NFL 12 Pigskin Pro-Am will air on NBC on Sunday, August 28 at 7:00 pm EST preceding the Oakland Raiders hosting the New Orleans Saints (NBC, 8:00 pm EST) preseason matchup on Sunday Night Football.

Made possible by heat printing and Stahls’ CAD-CUT materials, along with all the hard-working decorating specialists at Stahls’ Decorating Fulfillment Center! Go heat printing! Go NFL!

Source: Behind the Scenes for Madden NFL Pigskin Pro-Am (http://tedstahl.com/2011/08/behind-the-scenes-for-madden-nfl-pigskin-pro-am/) by Ted Stahl