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The Weird, Fascinating Story behind the Grass at the “Big Game”

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big game turf "The field is important to football the way a microphone is important to Adele. You don’t notice it if it works. It can ruin everything if it doesn’t." – Tommy Tomlinson, ESPN The Magazine This year, the Patriots and the Falcons will duke it out at NRG Stadium in Houston, a field that—gasp!—uses artificial turf. Doing anything on artificial turf sounds as strange to us as a vegan in a meatpacking plant, but despite our reservations we’ll be watching the whole thing. And trying not to pay too much attention to that green impostor underfoot. As an homage to the considerable—and mysterious—work that goes into producing the turf for the big games played on natural grass, we thought we’d share some of these well-kept secrets. Enjoy! Each “Big Game” played on grass since 1994 has been played on a brand new grass surface – about 1.3 acres in area -- purchased from one of three incredibly elite sod farms in the United States. Within just a few weeks before the big game, the sod is cut, loaded onto trucks, delivered and placed, all inside the short three or four weeks before kickoff. ESPN The Magazine reporter Tommy Tomlinson tells the story of how this special sod is identified by the NFL, evaluated, shipped and installed. It goes like this: Only the finest, most specifically grown sod can offer the players and millions of spectators a safe, sharp-looking playing surface -- without having the time needed for its roots to grow into the stadium soil. This begs a lot of questions about this “Super” sod and what sets it apart. But first, why install a brand new field just for the big game? After all, there’s already a fully rooted field in place.

Why a New Surface for Every Big Game?

The NFL started it after the 27th installation of the big game, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena in 1994. Record rainfall through the month of January had soaked the Rose Bowl field with 16 inches of rain, ruining parts of the field, even with tarping and extreme turf care. At the end of the game, 12 fumbles later – a championship record that still stands today – the NFL decided it would install a new surface for all future championships played on grass.

What’s Special about Big Game-quality Grass?

This is not grass you could grow on your own, at your house or in your yard. For one, it’s grown on a sheet of plastic, which forces the roots to grow “up” and intertwine, creating a uniquely dense root layer. It also requires a schedule of turf care maintenance you’re definitely not interested in trying to tackle. The big game sod isn’t given time to grow into the soil of the stadium, so it’s made so its sheer weight holds it in place. The NFL purchases sod for playing surfaces mainly from three farms: West Coast Turf in Livingston, California (west of San Francisco); Bent Oak Farm in Foley, Alabama (just west of Pensacola, Florida); and Carolina Green, located outside Charlotte, North Carolina. If you enjoy getting technical, here’s how Carolina Green describes its “in-season turf-replacement sod”: “The sod is grown on plastic a full 2” thick, weighing 15-17 pounds per square foot. It is certified 419 overseeded with perennial rye. A particular advantage in the product is that it has a free draining, sand-based rootzone. The original sod was grown in a natural 93% sand rootzone, then topdressed with sand rootzone material during production, so the material will drain and match up with a sand base profile. It has the best possible interface with sand-based fields, or fields with drainage systems. Sheer strength and stability are incredible. This is truly a product you can install and play on the same day. “It is held in place by the weight of the product itself, and the root-bound effect of growing on plastic offers greater shear strength than traditional thick-cut sod.”  Alabama’s Bent Oak Farm, whose grass was used most recently for 2015’s big game in Phoenix, grows Tifway-419 Bermuda Hybrid – also on a sheet of plastic, with very little soil. It’s bred and nurtured for extreme thickness and density, so it can stand up to football cleats. “Through trial and error, we have developed a product that is very pleasing to the eye and happens to be extremely durable,” Bent Oak Farm co-owner Doug Lipscomb said on the Made in Alabama website. In early January 2015, 34 trucks loaded with shrink-wrapped rolls of the sod refrigerated to 38 degrees traveled 1,700 miles from Foley, Alabama (essentially the Gulf Coast) to the University of Phoenix football stadium. Pretty amazing.

Who Sources Super Sod for the Big Game?

The field director since 2000 is a gentleman named Ed Mangan. His full-time job is groundskeeper for the Atlanta Braves baseball team, but he has worked on 27 big games in total. The degree of scrutiny he puts into sod is truly nothing you have seen before. He smells it, he literally tastes it and tests it with tools you’ve likely never seen, like a Clegg hammer. According to ESPN The Magazine, Mangan’s crew of 25 to 30 inspect the field before the game and watch the game from the sidelines. When he watches the game, Mangan says he is always nervous, but instead of him being nervous for a particular team, he “roots for the field” to hold up and do its job.

Caring for Your Lawn

This weekend’s big game is being played Sunday, February 5 at 6:30pm at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas – a field with artificial turf. But if you want your own grass to be elite quality, whether just for the plush look or to give your kids the best possible playing surface for pick-up games in the yard with their friends, regular fertilization and weed control can help your grass grow thicker, greener and tougher. Contact your local Spring-Green to find a lawn care package that’s right for your lawn and budget.