I'm a sucker for any story that begins with: "Person X has (insert thing here) at all (insert number here) Super Bowls." Here's another one.
George Toma has helped prepare the playing fields at all 50 Super Bowls. He's back to work again as the team at NRG Stadium in Houston prep for Super Bowl LI on Feb. 5.
Toma is 88 and works as a consultant for the NFL. On Tuesday, Toma watched as a crew painted the end zones with the logos of the Patriots and Falcons. NRG has an artificial surface, but it will still take a crew of more than 100 to have the field at the standard set for a game that will be watched by more than 110 million people in the United States alone.
"This is one of the best artificial fields that we've played on," Toma told the Houston Chronicle.
Toma started his grounds crew career at the age of 12 in his hometown of Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania. His career took him to Cleveland to work with the Indians before a long run in Kansas City.
Toma was asked what he remembered about Super Bowl I, played way back in 1967. He recalled a conversation with a father and son who were equipment managers for the Packers, who beat the Chiefs in the NFL's inaugural NFL-AFL title game.
"The dad said, 'What will coach Lombardi do? He comes up with something big for every game,'" Toma said. "So he had Max McGee, who had been out drinking all night the night before, come into the game and (catch two touchdown passes). That's what I remember from the first game."
Skip Bayless would spontaneously combust if Julio Jones had a Michelob Ultra before Super Bowl LI.
