(When Parcells took the Jets job, I told him, “Now we just have to change those dreadful uniforms.” He agreed, and thankfully they went back to their roots.) We later expanded to supply the Vikings, Dolphins, Chargers, Patriots, Ravens, Eagles, and Jets. The first teams we outfitted were the Steelers, Packers, and Washington. They made our uniforms for us so the teams and Starter didn’t miss a beat in the transition. Although we didn’t have experience with on-field gear, there was no learning curve for us regarding uniform construction or production because it was outsourced to the very best - the Ripon folks in Berlin, Wis. The dollar amounts, which seemed exorbitant at the time, were laughably low sums by today’s standards. We would offer individual contracts to these guys for the right to outfit their team. The exposure wars began as we competed for the likes of George Seifert, Chuck Knox, Mike Ditka and so on. Then, with the unexpected ambush of Apex One in 1990, we had to start paying coaches for their team’s coverage. Originally we had all 28 then-current NFL teams wearing our product on the sidelines. The job put me in contact with a lot of celebrities - not just NFL people (countless star players, along with coaches like Don Shula, Bill Parcells, Bill Belichick, Jimmy Johnson, Dennis Green), but also actors and musicians, I never knew who would be on the other end of the phone when I answered it, from Jerome Bettis to Paul McCartney. Raiders players were always a priority and very important - something about the silver & black!
I still remember the first player endorsement contract I negotiated - I signed Raiders wide receiver “Rocket” Ismail in ’94. It was a blast selecting the apparel and headwear styles for the teams to wear. I was eventually appointed Team Service Manager for the NFL. How could there be? Here I was, a 25-year-old guy, going to Super Bowls, World Series, and so on, with all-areas access and elite treatment. With Starter being the biggest and best in the world at the time, and with the company at its peak, I could not envision a better job on the planet.
#90s paper cup design hq pro#
This job called for me to deal with the players and teams in all four of the major pro sports. I still see some of those shirts for sale on eBay 30 years later.Īfter two and a half years, I was able to secure the most coveted role I could have only dreamed of: pro teams services and relations coordinator. It was amazingly cool to have NFL team personnel and players wearing my artwork. I created the Conference Champs and Super Bowl locker room tees during the infancy of that product category. I specialized in designing graphics for my favorite sport, NFL football (although I also got to design Nolan Ryan’s official 300th-victory shirt ). I’d been passionate about uniforms, colors, and logos since my youth, and it was a lot of fun getting my artistic sports visions out there. My job was to mix and match the ink to team logo colors to be screened on the sew-on wristband appliqués for NFL, MLB, and NBA players.įollowing my December ’87 graduation, I was hired full-time in Starter’s two-person art department.
That was too much of a coincidence for me - I worshipped the place, and I knew I had to be employed there.Īfter relentless nagging, I was fortunate enough to be hired in September of 1987, when I was still in school, as Starter’s first and only intern. I was a pro sports fanatic and the sportswear juggernaut Starter was headquartered right there in New Haven. For most of them, you can click to enlarge.Īs an art major at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven in the mid-1980s, I knew I wouldn’t be long for the conventional design world. He’s provided photos of some of his T-shirt designs, including a few phantom shirts for games or titles that never happened, which I’ve sprinkled throughout the piece. Just as reader Dave Bloomquist recently told us what it was like to work for Twins Enterprise (the precursor of ’47 Brand), Kurt’s going to tell us a bit about his time with Starter. Twenty years ago today - Apthe sportswear brand Starter filed for bankruptcy, bringing an end to a storied retail and on-field brand.Īs it happens, Uni Watch reader Kurt Evans (that’s him in the photo above, showing off Starter’s NFL sideline caps in 1998) was working for Starter at the time.
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