NFL Groundskeeping Experts Are Ready For Cold-Weather MetLife Super Bowl

MetLife Stadium (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images)

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) It may qualify as a small irony that in the run-up to the first outdoor, cold-weather Super Bowl, the people seemingly least threatened about the possibility of bad weather are the folks whose job is to protect the surface on which the game will be played.

It should come as no surprise, since theNFLsgroundskeeping experts are used to dealing with the elements and improvising when they have to.

Like the time when rehearsals the night before one Super Bowl put foot-deep indentations into theNFLlogo at midfield, necessitating an emergency trip to a local high school field where crews dug up chunks of sod as a replacement.

Or the 1970 game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Minnesota Vikings at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, when crews had to spread wood chips and sawdust across the field and paint it green to look presentable.

BRADSHAW HATES THE IDEA OF A COLD SUPER BOWL

None of that figures to happen at New Jerseys MetLife Stadium in February, but there certainly will be more scrutiny as theNFLuses the game as a test case for possible future cold-weather games. For all the extra attention, Ed Mangan, the leagues field director for the Feb. 2 game, likened his job to an offensive linemans, in which anonymity is its own reward.

We set the stage for the players and thats our job; if you cant accept that, you shouldnt be doing it, Mangan said. The best compliment is that nobody mentions the field at all. If they are, it usually means something is wrong.

MetLife Stadium, home to the New York Giants and New York Jets, likely will make things easier for theNFLin one respect. It has an artificial playing surface, which means the league wont have to truck in specially-grown sod as in previous Super Bowls. The re-sodding of Super Bowl fields has become a science, with sod grown up to two years in advance at special farms. (For home lawn enthusiasts, theNFLuses a hybrid Bermuda grass as a base, overseeded with perennial rye grass, Mangan said).

Artificialturfcan be affected by snowy or icy conditions but is a big improvement over natural grass, according to Jets kicker Nick Folk.

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NFL Groundskeeping Experts Are Ready For Cold-Weather MetLife Super Bowl