Super Bowl LVII - Kansas City Chiefs v Philadelphia Eagles
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After the Chiefs beat the Eagles 38-35 in Super Bowl LVII, one of the biggest talking points during postgame was how bad the field conditions were at State Farm Stadium. Following Kansas City's win, both teams criticized the field with one player even going as far as to say that it was the "worst" field he had ever played on. 

The fact that the field didn't hold up was a major surprise and that's because the NFL has been using the same groundskeeper since the first Super Bowl, George Toma. With such an experienced veteran running things, there was no reason to expect that the field was going to turn into a giant slip-and-slide on Sunday, but that's exactly what happened. 

If you're wondering why the field was in such bad shape, Oklahoma State University has a theory. 

The school has been developing new breeds of grass since 1986 and the NFL used one of OSU's newer breeds, Tahoma 31, for Super Bowl LVII. The school was so proud of the fact that their turf was being used that they actually bragged about it in TWO different tweets before the game. 

Following the game, though, the school took a much different tone. 

One day after Kansas City's win, OSU released a statement that basically blamed the NFL for the slippery conditions at State Farm Stadium. 

"While OSU scientists developed and patented Tahoma 31, they had no role in creating or preparing the field for Super Bowl LVII," the school said in a statement, via the Tulsa World. "Tahoma 31 was used for the base layer, but the field also was seeded with a top layer of ryegrass, which has slick leaf surfaces when damp. That and other factors may have contributed to traction issues during play."

The school is essentially pinning everything on the NFL's groundskeeping crew and that if the grass had been used as it was supposed to be used, there likely wouldn't have been any issues. The school also noted that there weren't any other issues with the grass this year and that THE EAGLES actually used Tahoma 31 for home games this season. 

"The Philadelphia Eagles played on Tahoma 31 at Lincoln Financial Field during the 2022 season, including the NFC Championship Game two weeks ago," the school said. "Tahoma 31 is widely used at high-profile sites across the country, including the Arkansas Razorbacks' stadium, which was recognized as the 2022 College Football Field of the Year by the Sports Field Management Association."

In the days leading up to the Super Bowl, Toma had said that he thought the grass for this year's Super Bowl was among the best ever. 

"This is a new turf," Toma told Fox 4 in Kansas City on Feb. 7. "I believe this is the second-best turf that we've had in 57 Super Bowls."

The 94-year-old also revealed that the NFL spent three-quarters of a million dollars on the turf. 

"In the first 27 Super Bowls, we didn't spend $1,000 on the field for a game," Toma told NPR in Kansas City. "This one here is $750,000."

The investment definitely didn't pay off because players from both teams hated it, especially Eagles pass rusher Haason Reddick. 

"I'm not going to lie it was the worst field that I've ever played on," Reddick said after the game. "It was very disappointing, it's the NFL. You would think it would be better so we could get some better play, but it is what it is. I don't know maybe the league will look at it and tell Arizona they got to step their stuff up. I don't know, it's not my decision to make, it's not my call to make whatever it is and what it is."

In the video below, you can see multiple instances of players slipping on the field. 

The NFL chose Tahoma 31 because the league thought it was the best grass available, according to Nick Pappas, the NFL's field surface director

"We believe that, right now, this is one of the strongest varieties of hybrid Bermuda grass you can get," Pappas told ESPN.com in the days leading up to the game. 

Oklahoma State would certainly agree that Tahoma 31 is one of the strongest varieties available, but the school definitely sounds less than thrilled with how its grass was used on Super Bowl Sunday.