The heat is on: Nike's farm-to-table NFL Draft jersey service feels the pressure

NASHVILLE -- The NFL clearly spares neither expense nor square footage when it comes to its annual draft.

But tucked away behind swaths of black cloth, just off to the right of the massive main stage for the draft, is a tiny room where possibly the most fervent work is done.

It’s the Nike Jersey NFL Room, where a team led by senior product director Kelly Morris puts the names of draft picks on the team jerseys that first-rounders hold up for those iconic shots with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell moments after the players are selected.  Morris' team must be quick and sure-handed. And, of course, it's paramount they get the names right.

This is the eighth year Nike has partnered with Stahl’s, a Michigan-based heat transfer & press company. Stahl’s director of technology advancement Brent Kisha, senior creative director Scott Vallee and account manager Justin Coleman are in the room, using the lHotronix Fusion IQ to customize the Nike Elite NFL jerseys, which retail for about $325.

The math looks like this: About 10 people work in a 200 square-foot room that contains 256 jerseys. They create 32 nameplates - one for each team. There are hundreds of possible team/player combinations. Names are etched on jerseys by steam by two machines. 

“We call them the dream machines,” joked Morris of the thermal transfer presses used to create the drafted player’s jerseys. “Because this is where dreams come true.”