Zambia: Where the T-Shirts for Losing Super Bowl Teams Go

You'd think that there's nothing a poverty-stricken person living in Zambia, Romania or Nicaragua would have that Ben Roethlisberger might covet, right?

Guess again: How about a T-shirt declaring the Pittsburgh Steelers the winners of Super Bowl XLV?

Before the Feb. 6 Super Bowl, nearly 100,000 shirts declaring the Steelers the winner were printed up and ready to ship to sports stores across America just in case they won the game, and a similar number was printed up for the eventual champions, the Green Bay Packers.

But when Aaron Rodgers sealed the deal for the Packers, that also sealed the fate of all those Steelers Super Bowl T-shirts, which, according to NFL rules, cannot be sold.

Until 15 years ago, the shirts would have been destroyed. Now they have a slightly better situation: They are donated to World Vision, an international evangelical relief and development organization working in 100 countries, and given to needy people around the world.

According to Jeff Fields, senior director of World Vision, the idea of giving the shirts off a losing team's back had its roots in defending the NFL trademarks.

"In the early 1990s, a lot of sports teams were collecting bootleg merchandise that would be destroyed," he told AOL News. "We got them to give it to us so we could use it in our programs. Over time, we built their trust."

So much so that when sports retailers started demanding an earlier arrival date for T-shirts honoring the Super Bowl winners, thus necessitating that shirts for both teams be printed in advance, World Vision was able to get the NFL to donate the losing shirts to its cause.

So how many shirts is that?

That depends on many factors, including the teams playing and their location.

"We will be getting about 100,000 shirts this year, because Pittsburgh is in a relatively small market," Fields said. "We had more shirts when New England lost to the New York Giants a few years ago and when the Chicago Bears lost to Indianapolis.

"Also, the major sports retailers don't always have locations everywhere, so if a store doesn't have a location in the area of the Super Bowl contenders, there is no pre-buy."

Fields admits that, for his purposes, he'd benefit most if New York and New England played in every Super Bowl.

However, Fields lives in Pittsburgh and is a lifelong Steelers fan, and he admits the fact that he is now getting ready to ship the shirts of his beloved team halfway across the world is "a bittersweet irony."

Since U.S. retailers can't sell those shirts, the NFL wants them out of the country quickly. So in the next three weeks, all those shirts, an equal number of hats and a slightly smaller number of sweatshirts will be shipped out to Zambia, Armenia, Romania and Nicaragua.

"These are the places where we see the greatest need currently," Fields said.

However, Steelers fans who would like to live in an alternate universe where their team was, indeed, Super Bowl champion this time should not check Travelocity for flights to Zambia in hopes of getting a shirt.

"Our families are prequalified and sign a contract that they will not trade or barter anything they receive," Fields said. "If they do, they could be prevented from further distributions.

So there! And don't try to bribe World Vision employees either.

"We have a strict policy with employees," Fields said. "They are not allowed to take anything that's been donated. It's not worth risking your job for a $20 T-shirt."

World Vision has similar deals with Major League Baseball, the NBA and the NHL, but football is the biggest generator of shirts.

And this year, for the first time ever, it will also be a big generator of goodwill.

Next month, a group of pro football players, including Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson and Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, will fly to Uganda to hand out shirts.

So what's the possibility that someone who has one of this year's Steelers shirts will become a fan?

Not much, actually.

"The regions where we distribute these shirts tend to be isolated and don't have access to American football," Fields said.

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