The turf was the focus of attention at the 2023 Super Bowl because the players slipped many times. The NFL is now apparently blaming the pros on the field.

The Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles will be remembered not least for the poor ground conditions as players slipped several times. Even though this event took place five months ago, the discussions about it are not yet over.

According to “Pro Football Talk”, several team owners had asked the league why the playing surface was so slippery. The NFL responded by blaming the Chiefs and Eagles players for not wearing the right football shoes in the game.

Report: The NFL privately blamed the Eagles and Chiefs players for all the slipping in the Super Bowl, per Mike Florio.

A source told Florio that the league communicated to the owners that the reason all the slipping happened is because the players were wearing the wrong… pic.twitter.com/gEJs6tBeg0

– Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) July 3, 2023

This is an interesting stance, especially as both teams found the conditions on the pitch to be terrible.

The surface at State Farm Stadium in the desert state of Arizona was so bad that Eagles pass rusher Haason Reddick called it the “worst” surface he had ever played on.

Super Bowl 2023: Field must have had “foul smell “

Also George Toma, who has worked on all 57 Super Bowls as a groundskeeper or consultant, blamed NFL field director Ed Mangan for overwatering the field. After seeing the final product, Toma noted that the field had a “rotten smell.”

In fact, the NFL’s argument seems counterintuitive. Several Eagles players had changed their cleats during the game, so improper footwear cannot be considered the cause of the problem.

Philadelphia defensive end Brandon Graham recently said that the Chiefs had been “blessed” by the field conditions because Philadelphia players particularly suffered from the field conditions.