Levi's Stadium might be a state-of-the-art facility, but it has had repeated issues with its turf. During the inaugural season in 2014, the 49ers replaced the sod five times.

And in August 2015, the team had to move a training camp practice from the stadium, where 20,000 fans were to attend, to a closed practice field because -- you guessed it -- the turf was falling apart. Two months later, Ravens kicker Justin Tuck honked an attempt against the 49ers after his plant foot was consumed by a sinkhole.

So even though the turf was replaced before Super Bowl 50, it's no surprise that it was an issue throughout the game. Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib called the surface "terrible." And while you don't have to believe him, Panthers left tackle Michael Oher offers visual proof:

But at least one person thought the turf was good: groundskeeper George Toma who has prepared the surfaces for all 50 Super Bowls.

"I'm an 87-year-old man and I've been in this game for 74 years and been to 50 Super Bowls," Toma told CSNBayArea.com's Matt Maiocco on Wednesday. "And I thought this was the second-best sod we've had at a Super Bowl."

"Sometimes these players are hard-headed," Toma continued. "They won't change their cleats and their play suffers. We gave the players the best playing field, a safe playing field. The cheapest insurance for an athlete from Pop Warner to the NFL is a good, safe playing field. And we try to give the fans in the stands and the fans on TV a thing of beauty.

"I know there's a lot of controversy, but the field played excellent. But the two players that (complained), all they had to do was their change cleats."

87-year-old groundskeeper George Toma had no issue with the Levi's Stadium turf. (USATSI)
87-year-old groundskeeper George Toma had no issue with the Levi's Stadium turf. (USATSI)

West Coast Turf's VP of sales and marketing John Marman added: "When you hear a couple of guys saying it wasn't (good ), that's going to be exposed and picked on a little more because people are kind of waiting in line to say something bad about the field at Levi's Stadium. (Levi's) has a bit of a stigma attached to it. And things have picked up for the better. We were very proud of that field."

For what it's worth, Panthers coach Ron Rivera didn't use the field conditions as an excuse.

"Both teams played on the same field," he said. "As far as I'm concerned, for me to be able to blame the field is kind of a cop-out. The truth of the matter is we both played on the surface. The surface was outstanding."

And Broncos linebacker Von Miller, who won Super Bowl MVP honors, said it was a "great field" after he changed his cleats.