Super Bowl 2023 is only four days away, and the field is all set. Multiple media outlets have posted photos and videos of the crew in Glendale, Arizona working on the field at State Farm Stadium. The field consists of the NFL logo painted at the 50-yard line and the Super Bowl LVII logos on the 25-yard lines. According to NBC Sports Philadelphia, the league has gone with the layout for each of the last 20 Super Bowls.
There is also different turf on the field as it has been growing at a local sod farm for the last 18 months, according to Insider. The turf, which is called Tahoma Hybrid Bermuda, is moved in and out of the stadium daily to give it as much Arizona sunshine as possible. The grass comes into the stadium for good four days before the Super Bowl.
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“In the first 27 Super Bowls, we never spent more than $1,000 on the field, and this one here is around $800,000,” legendary NFL groundskeeper George Toma said. (Other NFL officials wouldn’t commit to that figure.) “[Back then], we had to be ready in 9-14 days from grass seed.”
As the crew gets the field ready, the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs are getting ready to play in the championship game. The Eagles are looking to win their first Super Bowl since the 2017 season, while the Chiefs are looking to win their second Super Bowl in four years. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes revealed what will be the team’s motivating factor heading into Sunday’s game.
“The motivating factor is to be the best,” Mahomes said, per the Chiefs’ official website. “You’re in the biggest game of your life, and you want to go out there and make memories with your teammates. I think the biggest motivating factor is to step on that field and try to be the best. We know we have a great challenge in the Philadelphia Eagles, so it’ll be a great game.”
Mahomes went on to say he knows how special the game is as this will be the first time two Black quarterbacks will face each other in the Super Bowl. “It’s special. I have a lot of respect for the guys who came before me and laid the foundation,” Mahomes explained. “To play against a guy like Jalen – a genuine, great dude who has worked his tail off to be in the position that he’s in – it’s going to be a special game and a special moment for a lot of kids to watch. We’re trying to set the example for [them].”
