Eagles’ Jordan Mailata rips Super Bowl grass field - “Like playing on a water park”

The Super Bowl is a great exhibition for phenomenal footballers. Jalen Hurts, Jordan Mailata, Jason Kelce and company lined up against Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Chris Jones. It featured a great half-time show by Rihanna. It saw a close game with the Chiefs edging out the Eagles 38-35 with a last-minute field goal to break the deadlock.

However, if everything was great, one thing that certainly left a lot to be desired was the playing turf. The game was held in Arizona and there were concerns before the game at the state the field was in. The Chiefs had complained about it earlier in the season and the NFL had spent $800,000 making sure that it was ready for the Super Bowl.

Instead, all we saw was players slipping and sliding. Kickers and punters slipped, defenders could not get leverage for sacks, running backs lost their footing and at one point it looked likely that there might be a serious injury. Echoing those concerns after the game was Eagles player Jordan Mailata.

Fresh off the loss, he could have blamed the opposing team or the referees for their loss. He could have been angry at his own teammates as well for failing at the final hurdle. Instead, the first thing he lambasted was the playing field, saying that it felt like a water park. It showed the level of discomfort players felt on the surface.

uSTADIUM

@uSTADIUM

#Eagles OL Jordan Mailata on the #SuperBowl field conditions: "terrible . . . like playing on a water park."

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#Eagles OL Jordan Mailata on the #SuperBowl field conditions: "terrible . . . like playing on a water park."

Was Jordan Mailata right to condemn the turf in such terms?

We have to recognize that groundkeepers play an important role in the league and that there is no game without them. However, there is no doubt that the playing surface could have been better today. Here is just a small compilation of players slipping and sliding today.

Main Team

@MainTeamSports

Compilation of players slipping on a $800,000 field

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Compilation of players slipping on a $800,000 field https://t.co/AQ8LuiR7jI

The injury to Damar Hamlin reminded us how fragile life can be and how quickly a career may end in the NFL. The average longevity of a player in the league is three years. They deserve the best conditions to play in and it was not like that today. There was a chance someone could have gotten seriously injured. In fact, as mentioned before, the Chiefs have complained about the field in the regular season after multiple injuries while playing the game.

Rob Collins

@RCFOX4KC

Chiefs HC Andy Reid: The turf in Arizona played a part in the injuries to Harrison Butker and Trent McDuffie.
#Chiefskingdom

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Chiefs HC Andy Reid: The turf in Arizona played a part in the injuries to Harrison Butker and Trent McDuffie.
#Chiefskingdom

In a game that had everything from on-the-field entertainment to off-the-field, the field itself did not need to be the main story coming out of players like Jordan Mailata today. Arizona and the league should look to fix the issue soon.

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