This Thursday marks the start of the 2024 NFL Draft in Detroit, where hundreds of thousands of people are expected to gather around Campus Martius Park to see the biggest names in college football get drafted.

Caleb Williams. Jayden Daniels. Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr. Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy.

Any one of these football players could be picked at the top of the first round and when that happens Brent Kisha and his team from Stahls’ International in St. Clair Shores will have two minutes, from the second the player’s name is called to the moment he bearhugs NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, to personalize the Nike jersey he will hoist victoriously into the air.

This is the action going on behind the curtain in the Nike Jersey Room.

“This year marks the 13th year Stahls’ will work behind-the-scenes at the NFL Draft — and every year we’re still nervous about it,” said Kisha, vice-president of strategic sales for the global apparel decoration technology, software and equipment manufacturer based in Macomb County.

“It’s like football players in a big game,” said the Macomb Township resident. “You’re nervous until that first snap and then you let it rip.”

The tradition of printing jerseys on demand was started by Stahls’ in 2012.

However, the company has been a major player in the apparel printing business since 1932.

Growing business

A.C. and Ethel Stahls’ started out as a small letters and numbers business located in a Detroit garage.

As explained on the company’s website the work they did in lettering, screen printing, chenille, and apparel decorating was sparked by a combination of A.C.’s entrepreneurial spirit and his prior work experience with felt material at a manufacturing facility. One of Stahls’ first products sold was chenille lettering sewn on a felt background. The felt was cut by hand; A.C. eventually developed the process of cutting material by using a die and punch press.

As with many manufacturing companies in the Motor City, Stahls’ was a pioneer in the industry who expanded his company’s process and technology year after year. Today, the company is a global leader in apparel decoration technology, software and equipment with operations throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia and Australia headed up by Ted Stahl, who is a third generation owner of the family business. His father was Ernest Stahl, the son of A.C. and Ethel.

Also a major part of their business is equipment and materials that they supply to everyone from at-home entrepreneurs to retail leaders and sports leagues including the National Hockey League, Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association.

“He went into manufacturing when he saw that the heat presses that were available were inferior to what was needed and improved upon the time, temperature and pressure (which are key to the process),” Kisha said. “Then he just continued to improve it.”

Stahls’ line of Hotronix heat presses and CAD-CUT heat transfer vinyl are among the products that the company has perfected.

“It’s been interesting to watch. He’s really done a nice job in growing this business,” said Kisha, who remembers the first Draft Day event being a small soiree in comparison to what goes on now.

From New York to Detroit

“We set up at Radio City Music Hall in New York,” Kisha said, and while they weren’t totally sure of how things would go, being their first time doing it live, it went off without a hitch.

“We got the thumbs up and we’ve been doing it ever since,” Kisha said of their contract with Nike.

After that first draft, Kisha and his team took their business on the road to draft days in Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, Kansas City and Nashville. In 2015, which was the Golden Year of the NFL, they came up with the idea of doing the names in gold. Now that’s a collectible jersey you won’t find everywhere.

“From little league to the ultimate stage at the NFL Draft and everything in between, millions of athletes around the world wear Stahls’ products,” said Carleen Gray, CEO of GroupeStahl.

In fact there’s a good chance many of this year’s draftees have been wearing Stahls’ products their entire life.

“We’re proud to be part of their journey,” added Gray, who has been with the company for 27 years.

“People work here for decades,” she said, before providing a tour of where most of the magic takes place.

Covering the walls of the headquarters are dozens of NFL, NHL, NBA and MLB jerseys, some of which have been signed by players who are no longer in the game.

Game on

Kisha and his team will be up early, loading materials they’ll need including eight jerseys per team on-hand in case of last minute trades and the nameplates for every potential first round draftee.

In all, that’s 32 different teams with different fonts and colors. That comes to about 2,000 names ready to go if called in the first round. In addition to the personalized jerseys for each player, they will also be required to print a second jersey for the players’ rookie playing card pack.

Stahls’ team will set up in the Nike Jersey Room backstage, which is across the stage from the Green Room where the draftees will wait to hear their name called during what Kisha expects to be even bigger than last year’s event in Nashville.

“There were so many people in the streets,” Kisha said. “I envision that same experience in Detroit.”

Not only because it’s downtown but because people are still celebrating the Detroit Lions past season that saw them win their first division title in 30 years, first playoff game in 32 years, and advance all the way to the NFC Championship Game. Having the NFL Draft here will reignite that passion for their hometown players and those picked to join the team next year.

This week, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer proclaimed the opening day of the draft “Honolulu Blue” Day in the Great Lakes State, a nod to the Lions’ main color.

“We are thrilled to be a part of the NFL Draft in our home state. I don’t think people realize how grand and big this is for football fans, who will be coming from all over the world to experience this,” Kisha said. “There’s no doubt people are going to go ‘Wow.’”

The NFL Draft will take place at Campus Martius Park and Hart Plaza in Detroit from April 25-27. The first round will begin April 25 at 8 p.m.

For more information visit visitdetroit.com/2024nfldraft/