Working to make NRG Stadium field flawless for Super Bowl LI
HOUSTON (FOX 26) - Within the walls of Houston's NRG Stadium, games simply get no bigger.
As in Super Bowls past, the contest will draw a quarter billion eyeballs for roughly four dozen minutes of actual gridiron play.
Conditions must be beyond reproach, as perfect as the National Football League can make them with months of actual preparation and a few frenzied weeks of skilled execution.
Twelve days from kickoff, NFL director of events Eric Finkelstein is assessing Houston and NRG Stadium high marks.
"We are right on track, right where we want to be at this point in time and we're just pushing to be set for Super Bowl Sunday," said Finkelstein who told reporters the NFL wants the NRG Stadium roof open for the game if weather allows. "This site is so flexible. It's a great site for a Super Bowl."
What cannot be flexible are conditions on the actual playing field. As crews began the painstaking process of crafting end zone logos on the NRG Stadium turf, NFL field director Ed Mangan delivered a favorable verdict.
"The quality is excellent," said Mangan. "The field is in great shape from the testing we've done on it. It's all in good shape, good numbers and should be perfect for the game."
Keeping a sharp eye on the process is 86-year-old groundskeeping legend George Toma.
"This is my 51st," said Toma. "All of them." He added that the standard is set and Super Bowl LI will be no different.
"We will get it perfect," explained Toma. "We shift through everything to make it the best. Sometimes the refs like us because they know we are on the money, you know."