After the turf became a hot topic during last year’s game, other field complaints have already surfaced for the 2024 Super Bowl.
49ers staff members are unhappy about UNLV’s practice field because they believe the grass on top of the university’s artificial turf is too soft. CBS Sports reported Monday morning.
49ers players and coaches will not inspect the field until Monday afternoon’s walkthrough, but members of San Francisco’s equipment and grounds staff reportedly visited last week to inspect the field.
The field meets NFL, union and independent standards, but the 49ers prefer a harder surface, according to CBS Sports.
San Francisco is the road team for the 2024 Super Bowl, so they practice at a university field, while the Chiefs are based at the Raiders’ practice facility.
CBS Sports reported that there was also talk of finding time to practice at the Raiders’ training center when the Chiefs were away, but that is unlikely to happen, as the field is clearly enough of an issue for the 49ers.
After the Eagles lost to the Chiefs in the Super Bowl in Glendale, Ariz., last year, players and spectators alike trashed the field as players frequently slipped and changed cleats.
“I’m not going to lie, it was the worst field I’ve ever played on,” Eagles pass rusher Haason Reddick said at the time.
The Tahoma 31 Bermuda turf for last year’s Super Bowl was grown for two years at a turf farm in Phoenix and installed two weeks before the game.
George Thoma, a former groundskeeper known as the “Sodfather” who was involved in the field maintenance for the NFL’s Super Bowl for many years, said that last year, the Chiefs vs. accused of watering it. On the Wednesday morning before the game, the sun would never shine again.
