The Super Bowl is supposed to be the best of the best. And while the Chiefs and Eagles might be the two best teams on the field, the field itself might leave something to be desired.
Throughout Super Bowl 57, players from both Kansas City and Philadelphia have had issues staying upright on the field, which is natural grass, even when they haven't been getting contacted. Several players have slipped in open space and either fallen all the way to the ground, or had their progress inhibited enough to stop an otherwise bigger play.
This is supposed to be an issue players don't encounter. The league has had two weeks of preparations to make sure everything plays out on the field at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., as it should be without any potential issues.
Why has this become a problem? Here's what we know.
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Why Chiefs, Eagles players keep slipping on Arizona field
The NFL chose a heck of a time to try experimenting with new grass.
According to ESPN, the field is comprised of a new grass called Tahoma 31, which was developed with funding from the United States Golf Association. It features two types of Bermuda grass and rye grass. The report states the grass is better prepared to handle the cold, disease and wear. Additionally, this strand of grass supposedly recovers well from repeated use.
There are a number of reasons that could contribute to why the grass is so slippery. ESPN's Booger McFarland speculated that the conditions in the desert have led to moisture developing on the field.
Desert. Warm during the day. Cools down rapidly. Creating moisture on the field Especially with the roof open. Same problem in Las Vegas with grass outside/inside https://t.co/kTmLt5LUL6
— Booger (@ESPNBooger) February 13, 2023
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Former Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli said it might be because of the paint causing issues for the playing surface.
A lot of players slipping tonight - mostly in painted areas of field (not uncommon on grass). However, those #SuperBowl logos are HUGE & cover almost all grass between hashes from 17-yd line to 33-yd line Looks like much more paint than usual. Potential player safety issue? #NFL
— Scott Pioli (@scottpioli51) February 13, 2023
Maybe don’t use a new type of grass next Super Bowl pic.twitter.com/SyWU0E7IjL
— Jon Metler (@JonMetler) February 13, 2023
After the game, Eagles linebacker Haason Reddick said that everyone on the field had issues with traction, and said he wouldn't use it as an excuse, but noted he did feel like it impacted how he played. He called the field the "worst I ever played on" and said it was "disappointing" to have to play with those field conditions.
"A couple times, I had a good pass rush, felt like I beat my man, tried to turn the corner and couldn’t turn the corner," Reddick said. "I’m not making excuses, but you watch the film, you’re going to see what I said. At the end of the day, they still won, so credit to them."
Eagles coach Nick Sirianni echoed Reddick's sentiments that everyone had to play on the same field and figure out the best shoes to wear, saying it did cause some wardrobe issues for the team.
"Sometimes you do your best to figure out this playing surface as best you possibly can," Sirianni said. "Sometimes you have to change cleats in the middle of the game, just because of what’s working for you, same way as if you had to change a game plan or change a play. It was just adjusting to a little bit of the slippage that was going on the field."
Is State Farm Stadium grass or turf?
The field at State Farm Stadium is a grass that was homegrown at West Coast Turf in Scottsdale, Ariz., according to the ESPN report. The new model was developed at Oklahoma State by Dr. Yanqi Wu, started back in 2006.
According to the Associated Press, the grass is kept on a rolling track, and each day, it is rolled outside and brought back inside at night. The grass for the Super Bowl was grown back in May 2021.
"We believe that, right now, this is one of the strongest varieties of hybrid Bermuda grass you can get," NFL field surface director Nick Pappas told ESPN.
