49ers practice field controversy escalates as NFLPA president issues scathing statement ahead of Super Bowl 58
The San Francisco 49ers were not tagged as the home team for Super Bowl 2024 (more on that later), which, at first, looked like they were dealt a kinda-sorta bad hand ahead of the Big Game.
The Niners were forced to practice at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) while the Kansas City Chiefs were given the keys to the Las Vegas Raiders' top-notch facilities to train for Super Bowl week.
NFLPA president JC Tretter was the latest to draw attention to the below-par facilities handed out to Christian McCaffrey and co.
Super Bowl 2024: NFLPA president issues crystal-clear statement on 49ers' practice facilities
In a statement issued on X (formerly Twitter), NFLPA president JC Tretter wrote:
"Playable is not the same standard as high-quality. That's about as low as you can go to say it's ok."
Tretter added:
"We can't talk out of both sides of our mouth to say 'Injury data looks like this, we want high-quality fields. That's ok because it's playable.'"
Tretter finished the statement by saying this is not how the NFL should operate, stressing the need for high-quality surfaces and adding an exclamation point with the words:
"I don't think we have that done."
Why are the 49ers tagged as the away team in the Super Bowl?
Every year, the NFL alternates between picking teams from each conference as the home team in the Super Bowl. Last year, when the Chiefs faced off against the Philadelphia Eagles, the NFC-leading Eagles were tagged as the home team. Philly also got to pick the colors they'd wear for the Big Game, opting to go with their traditional green uniforms.
This year, it was the AFC's turn to have a home team. Considering this was the first year the Super Bowl was held in Las Vegas, the Chiefs were labeled the home team and given access to the Las Vegas Raiders' facilities.
A producer from Niners Nations reportedly drove by the UNLV facilities, stating that there were puddles around the field and the conditions were more akin to Week 1 in Chicago.
In any case, Kyle Shanahan did not raise much of an issue regarding the same during Super Bowl media appearances.