Former Kansas City Chiefs offensive lineman Orlando Brown Jr furiously dismissed all claims diminishing the team's Super Bowl victory against the Philadelphia Eagles during Super Bowl LVII.
After reports of bad field conditions began to surface, Brown combated claims from former Eagles safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson that the Eagles defensive line would have easily dismantled the Chiefs offensive line on a different field.
"Run that bowl back on legit grass, the Dline SMASH that Oline, I’m sorry," wrote Garnder-Johnson on Twitter. Brown Jr. wasted no time dismissing the excuse from the former Eagles player with a passionate quote tweet that completely dissected his theory.
"We're talking about grass on the biggest stage…Y’all rush plan was to win with games when rushing 4 with a mix of man and zone thinking that s*** was getting home,” wrote Brown in a quote tweet. “On top of that, y’all rushed 5 with cover 1 and a splash of 3! Let’s not act like the field helped me stop a bull rush; I gotta get cleats in the ground to stop it. If anything, it helped y’all!!”
The Chiefs beat the Eagles 38-25 during the game, sealing their second championship during the Patrick Mahomes era. However, the field conditions at State Farm Stadium were reportedly poor due to the artificial turf being overwatered by groundskeepers in the days leading up to the game.
Recently retired NFL groundskeeper George Toma - who has prepared every Super Bowl field super Super Bowl I in 1967, blamed the carelessness of NFL field director Ed Mangan for the poor field conditions. “He waters the hell out of it and puts it right into the stadium, and that’s it,” Toma said to ESPN. “Never sees sunlight again. He can’t do that.”
Toma further detailed that the turf on the field was watered four days before the Super Bowl LVII kickoff and then rolled into the stadium on moveable trays. However, he suggested that over fifty years of experience have created a successful formula of only watering the grass the day before the game and leaving it outside to dry before being placed on the field.
Toma continued to speak on the field mishap on The Dan Le Batard Show, requesting that Mangan owns up to his mistakes and accepts responsibility for the field. The NFL unofficially blamed the players for slipping throughout the game.
“There was mud all over the grass — wet. It was saturated,” Toma said on the show. “I need [Mangan] to say, ‘Yes, I overwatered it. I’m responsible for it.’ Not putting the blame on me.”
The slippery conditions of the field caused players to slip, forcing many to change cleats at halftime constantly. Eagles WR AJ Brown fell during the game's first possession, changing his footwear immediately after. However, he made no excuses and even admitted slipping while running routes the first time he practiced on the field.
Veteran Eagles center Jason Kelce also voiced his disappointment with the field while also electing not to use it as an excuse after the loss.
