Is the fabric liner inside the numbers supposed to peel off?

I've bought some jerseys before and I always get them directly from the NFL Shop.  I bought a few Reeboks back in the day and I noticed that after putting them through the wash the first time, the inner fabric lining on the numbers would always peel off.  I contacted the NFL Shop about this and they told me this was a flaw and should not have happened, so I always got either my money back or a replacement mailed out.

Flash forward three years or so and I finally decided to buy my first Nike Elite jersey.  I put it though the wash and the exact same thing happens.  I'll post some before and after pictures below so you can see exactly what I'm talking about.

Before:




After:




My question is should this happen and the NFL Shop is just ignorant?  It does seem like the fabric liner is designed to be peeled off like that.  However, I have been told every time I contact their customer service about it that it shouldn't happen and that the jersey is effectively damaged.  I don't know if they're correct or not, so I thought I'd turn to the community here.  I only ask because I've gotten so many refunds and replacements over the years that morality is eating away at me a little bit in case this really is something that's supposed to happen and I shouldn't have gotten all those replacements/refunds.

That is a paper backing that they use to stabilise the fabric when they are sewing the numbers on. It should be removed after the numbers are sewn. It shouldn't be there but sometimes they get lazy and leave it in. Just pull it all off. I can't believe that the customer service representatives would let you think it was a flaw.

Yeah, it's something that's been nagging at me ever since I bought my first jersey way back in 2009. I mean, I do feel bad because I've sort of been unfairly compensated for complaining about this issue several times now, but at the same time you think they'd take the hint after receiving the same complaint numerous times from the same customer over the years!

I guess now that I know it's normal and not an issue I'll just list the replacement on eBay. One other thing I noticed is that even after only drying it for one cycle on the low heat setting, the numbers on this Nike jersey are already bubbling a little. My Reeboks did that after a while, but never after the first drying cycle. Should I not dry the jersey on low like it says on the care tag but hang it to dry instead? I always get confused because the NFL Shop site says one thing but the actual tag says another.

Billsfan is right about the paper backing - it's just part of the process and will just fall away in the wash if you don't pull it off anyway. It shouldn't have any difference on the appearance of the jersey anyway.

The bubbling is caused by the dryer. The heat causes the glue holding the layers of the number together to separate. I always wash my jerseys on a hand wash / delicate, cold setting, and just leave them to hang dry. It may be too late for the jerseys you have already, but follow this going forward and you'll be fine.