[ReynardMuldrake]

Originally Posted by Quesadilla Joe

“The Sodfather,” an employee of the Chiefs, was in charge of the field for the Super Bowl. In order to protect a hobbled Mahomes from the Eagles’ ferocious pass rush, Andy Reid asked him to make the field slick and had his team prepped with proper cleats in order to deal with it. After winning the Super Bowl for the Chiefs, the “Sodfather” retired.

Ed Mangan was in charge of the Super Bowl field, not George Toma. Toma warned him he was doing a terrible job but Mangan ignored him. Toma resigned in protest.

Even if he wanted to sabotage the field, Toma didn't have the power to do what you are describing.

George Toma, the longtime groundskeeper who prepared and then advised the preparation of every Super Bowl field, believes the issues that plagued the field at Super Bowl LVII at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, could have been avoided.

The 94-year-old told ESPN that he believes the field was overwatered in the days leading up to the game. According to Toma, who has been nicknamed The Sodfather, the field was watered the Wednesday morning before the game and promptly rolled into the stadium on the moveable tray that housed the grass field for the last time before kickoff four days later.

Toma contended that the field should've been watered in the morning and kept outside to dry before being rolled in.

"So, what he does," Toma said, referring to Ed Mangan, the NFL field director who was in charge of the Super Bowl field and worked under Toma for years, "he waters the hell out of it and puts it right into the stadium and that's it. Never sees sunlight again. He can't do that."

A tarp was laid over the field to protect it from the rehearsals for the pregame, halftime and postgame shows, Toma said, and that led to the field emitting an odor. Toma said he was told during the week that the field was starting to decay and rot.

"It had a rotten smell," he said.

Toma also alleged that Mangan did not sand the field enough.

"He sanded it two weeks too late," Toma said. "He had only one sanding. He should have had two or three sandings, but he didn't do shit. And that was it. And not only that, he didn't take care of it. He wouldn't listen to anybody."

"Me and the league are finished," Toma said. "They can't tell me what to do anymore. We're done."

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/...as-overwatered