Levi's Stadium had '2nd-best sod' of any Super Bowl, head groundskeeper says

One of the world's foremost experts on groundskeeping is weighing in on the Super Bowl 50 turf controversy.

George Toma, who has prepared the field for every Super Bowl, gave Levi's Stadium a glowing review.

"I'm an 87-year-old man and I've been in this game for 74 years and been to 50 Super Bowls. And I thought this was the second-best sod we've had at a Super Bowl," Toma told Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com on Wednesday.

Denver Broncos defensive backs Aqib Talib and T.J. Ward were both critical of the Levi's Stadium playing surface, calling it "terrible" and "slippery." There was also video that surfaced Wednesday of Carolina Panthers left tackle Michael Oher sliding backwards on the turf.

But Toma said the only surface he'd rank better than Levi's Stadium is Super Bowl XLI, which was played in a driving rainstorm in 2007 between the Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears at Dolphin Stadium in Miami.

"Sometimes these players are hard-headed," Toma said. "They won't change their cleats and their play suffers. We gave the players the best playing field, a safe playing field. The cheapest insurance for an athlete from Pop Warner to the NFL is a good, safe playing field. And we try to give the fans in the stands and the fans on TV a thing of beauty.

"I know there's a lot of controversy, but the field played excellent. But the two players that (complained), all they had to do was change their cleats."