Q & A WITH DR . GRADY MILLER

What is going on with the Super Bowl field ’ s grass ? ( via text during the second half )

Within 24 hours of the Super Bowl ending ,

I received at least a dozen comments or questions about the Super Bowl field . It started with colleagues and friends , but by noon Monday I had requests for information or interviews from various media outlets .

Internet posts on the field and how it performed were plentiful . The first posts on the subject were generally related to the turfgrass cultivar , the cost of the field and the in-game slippage issues . Many focused on the concept that Tahoma 31 was a relatively new grass developed by Oklahoma State University . Writers often made a link between its newness and it not having been used as an NFL grass , neither of which were true .

Then some post-game sports talk shows and social media posts turned a bit condemnatory of the people in charge of preparing the field for the event . Several discourteously alluded to George Toma ’ s age and his relationship with the Kansas City Chiefs . When the sports field managers were not “ made available by the NFL ,” the negativity quickly turned toward the decisions made by NFL leadership . Following the trend established with pandemic politics , later social media posts often focused more on where to place the blame rather than learning about the problem .

I was a little surprised by how interested people outside the turfgrass industry were in the Super Bowl field . I wonder if the interest would have been as high if the announcers had not kept bringing it to the viewer ’ s attention with slow-motion replays of sliding feet . A Washington Post article written about the field ’ s condition two days after the Super Bowl had more than 500 comments in the first 48 hours after it was published . I read the comments , and they were made by sports fans who had next to zero knowledge of

Unfortunately for Super Bowl LVII , there was a clash when the activities on the field met the biology of growing the turfgrass .

turfgrass management . Then social media continued to stir the pot with various conspiracy theories .

But modern-day Super Bowls have components of art and science . There are so many challenges with putting on the pageantry of a Super Bowl that are beyond a regular home football game . Unfortunately for Super Bowl LVII , there was a clash when the activities on the field met the biology of growing the turfgrass . I do not think anybody was happy about how the field performed – most of all George Toma , who addressed the chain of events that led to the field ’ s problems in a post-retirement interview .

So , let me end by pointing out a few positives . First , the situation highlighted the importance of the turfgrass surface for an athlete ’ s safety and potentially the outcome of a game . Second , I believe a strong message was sent to the NFL that there need to be changes in how a field is prepared and used leading up to the Super Bowl . Mistakes happen , but we must learn from them . Third , sports field managers at any location can use this example to increase their involvement in the decision-making process regarding how a field is used and managed to ensure that the field is ready . No person is better equipped for making field decisions than the sports field manager .

Lastly , I would like to thank George Toma for his years of service to this industry . You have been a great ambassador for sports field managers … “ and then some .” SFM

Grady Miller , Ph . D . Professor and Extension Turf Specialist North Carolina State University

Questions ? Send them to Grady Miller at North Carolina State University , Box 7620 , Raleigh , NC 27695-7620 , or e-mail grady _ miller @ ncsu . edu

Or , send your question to Pamela Sherratt at 202 Kottman Hall , 2001 Coffey Road , Columbus , OH 43210 or sherratt . 1 @ osu . edu

50 SportsField Management | May 2023 sportsfieldmanagementonline . com