Mike Gunzelman
Videos by OutKick
So it is written, so it shall be said… the Sodfather has spoken.
Ask any Philadelphia Eagles fan about Super Bowl LVII and they will immediately bring up two things.
- The referees screwed them over by calling a holding penalty on cornerback James Bradberry.
- What the hell was going on with the field?
Well, they’re not going to get too far with their first argument. It was a penalty, even Bradberry admitted so. Maybe switch the argument to whether it should’ve been called at that moment of the game. But that’s for an argument for another day.
But, consider this – Bradberry may have held onto the opponent’s jersey a bit because there was no way else to play defense. Everyone was slipping and sliding all over the damn place. Which brings us to the second point…
Why was the field such a mess for the biggest and most important game of the year?
GEORGE TOMA HAS BEEN A GROUNDSKEEPER FOR 80+ YEARS
George Toma, the head groundskeeper for Glendale, Arizona’s State Farm Field, finally addressed questions about the field from Super Bowl Sunday. He essentially blamed it on NFL Field Director Ed Mangan.
“So, what he [NFL field director Magnan] does, he waters the hell out of it and puts it right into the stadium and that’s it,” Toma told ESPN. “Never sees sunlight again. He can’t do that.”
“HE DIDN’T DO SH**”
“He sanded it two weeks too late,” Toma continued. “He had only one sanding. He should have had two or three sandings, but he didn’t do sh**. And that was it. And not only that, he didn’t take care of it. He wouldn’t listen to anybody.”
Boom! I love this call out!
94-year-old George Toma, who is the damn SODFATHER, isn’t spending his twilight going down without a fight. Guy is coming at Mangan like a grandfather with a rolled up, crusty newspaper swatting away flies. Love to see it.
Toma goes on to say that Magnan didn’t listen to any of his suggestions, and that he’s pretty much solely the reason why the field stunk. Literally.
“It had a rotten smell,” Toma said when he saw the field that afternoon.
He says that a tarp had been laid over the field after it was overwatered, to protect it for the pregame and halftime shows. That led to an odor from it that was easily recognized by anyone that stepped foot on the field.
THE FIELD WAS AN ABSOLUTE MESS
As soon as the game started, fans and even the game broadcasters mentioned how terrible the playing field was.
People offered a variety of reasons on why the field was a mess. From watering the paint on the field and not letting it dry, to Rihanna’s halftime props being too heavy and damaging the field, to what I think is one of the biggest ones – the science behind the grass.
For some asinine reason, the NFL decided for the first time ever to use a new scientific-inspired hybrid grass.
Genius move by Magnan and everyone involved. Let’s use a field that we’ve NEVER had before and do it not for a preseason game that doesn’t matter, but the biggest game of them all.
THE NFL USED A NEW TYPE OF GRASS FOR THE FIRST TIME
The NFL released a statement the day after the Super Bowl on the field’s conditions. “The State Farm Stadium field surface met the required standards for the maintenance of natural surfaces, as per NFL policy. The natural grass surface was tested throughout Super Bowl week and was in compliance with all mandatory NFL practices,” the NFL said.
Think of ALL the planning that goes into the Super Bowl. The meticulous, second-by-second, everything is thought out ahead of times, so many moving parts production is planned months in advance. The fact that the NFL blew it on the FIELD of all things should be shocking, but this is the NFL we’re talking afterall.
And George Toma isn’t going to let them throw the blame on him.
Hey Mike….it was not a penalty no matter what the CB said. Can’t make that call at that moment. Officials should not determine the outcome.
What? He held him and he admitted it was a penalty. It may have determined the outcome of the game if they don’t call an obvious penalty but that is ok? Such idiocy over an obvious penalty.