You’ve probably seen commemorative footballs painted up and presented to a player to celebrate a big win or a career milestone. But who designs and produces these balls? It’s one of those things we know about and kind of take for granted, but most fans — myself included — don’t give much thought to the process behind it.
I recently got a peek into that process via a Uni Watch reader named Kyle Brenzel. He’s the production manager for a Buffalo-area business called Signtech, which in addition to making signs also produces commemorative game balls for the Bills and two other NFL teams. He and I were discussing another uni-related matter when he mentioned that his company makes custom game balls. Of course, I wanted to know more, so I asked if I could interview him and he readily agreed. Here’s a transcript of a Zoom call we recently had, edited for length and clarity.
