Inside NFL's field-stitching process from Rio to Paris - ESPN

Papa Turf had seen Copacabana Beach only from his hotel room. He had spent more time managing a rehab effort at the stadium than sleeping. But when Tyler Loop's walk-off 56-yard field goal — kicked from the edge of the NFL logo — snuck inside the left upright to give the Baltimore Ravens a last-second victory over the Dallas Cowboys in Rio de Janeiro last month, it wasn't just the Ravens who were happy with the result.

«Honestly, [I was] feeling like that was a perfect way to end an exciting game,» said Nick Pappas, the NFL's field director, who was hoping «field czar» would stick as a moniker instead of the «Papa Turf» sobriquet bestowed upon him by a league executive. Pappas was watching Loop from the far end zone, not caring which team won, only that nobody would have to talk about the grass afterward. «To see it end on a play where the cleat-to-surface interaction is so critical, on a long, important kick, was added validation that my decisions and efforts throughout the process were the right ones.»

That kick ended a weekslong odyssey through once-in-a-generation rain during what was supposed to be the dry season, the busy local soccer schedule, cargo flights from the Netherlands, hurried processing through Brazilian customs, a crash course in agronomy for the media and a round-the-clock, maddeningly slow stitching of the field by Zamboni-like sewing machines to render the field a nonfactor. Loop's sure footing on the final kick came on the part of the field that was at the heart of the frenzied repair.

«I thought overall the field held up well,» Ravens coach Jesse Minter said after the game. «I didn't see a bunch of plays where guys were falling down or anything like that.»

The NFL did it all again for next