As new Vikings cornerback Mike Hughes was introduced Friday evening at team headquarters in Eagan, longtime seamstress Penny Bryce watched with pride from the side of the room.

Hughes turned his Vikings jersey around, revealing his last name, and Bryce burst into a grin before taking the stage alongside the 21-year-old rookie.

It was a bittersweet moment for Bryce, who is retiring after nearly 50 years of stitching the last name on the back on nearly every Vikings jersey. She estimates she’s stitched thousands of Vikings jerseys since being hired by the team in 1969, including more than 700 jerseys last season alone.

“I don’t think they had the big press conferences back then,” Bryce said. “It’s a real different world.”

Bryce was contacted by the Vikings before Super Bowl IV, tasked with moving the league’s 50th-season patch from the sleeve to the shoulder. She must have done a good job, because the Vikings have been coming back ever since.

Bryce does most of the work out of her small shop, Hopkins Garment Lettering Service, about 30 minutes from the team facility.

“As the years have gone on, it’s just built up more and more,” Bryce said. “In the beginning, the Vikings was probably 10 or 15 percent of the business and now it’s about 80 percent of the business.”

Bryce cites lengthy last names, like that of former Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, as some of her trickiest work, though she boasts that a standard last name by itself takes only about 20 minutes to finish.

“I’ve only sewed my finger once,” Bryce added with a laugh. “It only takes once.”

Asked what the Vikings will do in her absence, longtime equipment manager Dennis Ryan confirmed that the team has already outsourced the work to a company in Pine City, Minn. It’s a much larger operation that also works with the hometown Gophers. Related Articles Vikings sign linebacker Hardy Nickerson off practice squad

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Bryce can’t remember the first jersey she stitched nearly 50 years ago. That said, she said Hughes will always hold a place in her heart.

“I’ve still got a few practice jerseys for the rookies,” Bryce said. “That was the last first-round draft pick, though.”

As for whether she considered sticking around until next season to make it a perfect 50 years at the helm, Bryce quickly wrote off that notion.

“Nope,” Bryce said with a smile. “My body is not going to take it.”