DZ

Looks like you can see the outline of the Tampa Bay letter between the bottom of the Bills' I and where Hostetler is reaching the ball. I would chalk that up just to normal wear as the game progressed; nothing to change Pitt's design over. Speaking of Tampa Stadium, I distinctly remember watching a Bandits game in 1984 and seeing remnants of the "R*dskins" wordmark and NFC helmet from the SB two or three months prior. USFL brass couldn't have been happy about that. I may have to try and find it; may be on YouTube.

I'll echo many of the comments here: I don't hate it. One of the better fields of the current-template (since SB 50) era, which as we've all pointed out, is not a high bar to clear. That said, the SB logo might be the best of this era, and that raises the entire design. Also, the uniforms are the best combination they could have picked. I'm curious if, for teams with multiple uniform choices, the NFL makes a "recommendation." Agree that it should be one of the more aesthetically pleasing SBs in a while.

5. What will the 49ers’ end zone look like? Good news for Saloon-font fans: The 49ers asked for, and received, permission for their end zone to be decorated like the Levi’s Stadium end zones in the recent playoff games. That means a red background with a 49ers helmet and the word “49ers” in the Saloon-font style. The only difference is that the Levi’s end zones recently have included a blue “N” for National Football Conference. Neither end zone in Miami will include a conference logo.

49ers will get helmet and vintage font in end zone. No NFC logo. https://theathletic.com/1554880/2020/01/22/white-jerseys-and-a-saloon-font-end-zone-10-details-about-49ers-super-bowl-week-in-miami/?source=shared-article

The Chiefs are having a throwback day this week and got inspiration from their Super Bowl end zone. Reports say the old Municipal Stadium end zone is the inspiration, but this was their SB I end zone first. There's no yellow paint in the Muni end zones in the Chiefs' 1966 highlight film: https://twitter.com/Chiefs/status/1174823265375834112

Nobody asked me, but here are my favorite Super Bowl fields, by era: Early era: VII. Don't like the colored 50s at midfield, but the Dolphins aqua and Redskins gold was a good endzone color combo. To me, the dual helmets design was the perfect football field; only the Rose Bowl came close. However, I think the NFL could have stayed with this endzone design — team logo, wordmark, conference logo — in perpetuity (and indeed brought it back for a time), and I would have been OK with it. Dual helmets era: XXIX. I may be biased because I grew up a Chargers fan and it's the last "classic" design, but I like the endzone colors and the SB logo, and the 75th anniversary logo at midfield was a different touch. Nearly disqualifying: The NFL shield instead of the conference logos in the second helmet. I can see how that would be disqualifying for a lot of people. So if I had to pick a backup here, go with XIII. XVIII is also very good because it has two of my favorite end zones (I'll get to that later), but I never liked the "logo inside the football" at the 35-yard lines. Midfield SB logo era: In general, I hated these. But XXXVII is a pretty easy call as best because I liked the SB logo, and the Raiders/Bucs endzone combo is sharp. Template era: I agree with piit6pack that the Ravens/49ers endzone color contrast makes XLVII an easy choice. I also like XLIV a lot, but I've never been crazy about that SB logo. SB50-since era (or, perhaps more accurately, XLVIII-since era): Who cares? Pick one out of a hat. I think my feelings echo most of the community here. Best end zones: 1. Raiders, 2. Dolphins (aqua), 3. Broncos, 4. Redskins, 5. Bengals. All dual helmets era.

My fear is that if the Vikings make it, the fact that there's already an end zone there could result in some Super Bowl XLVIII-style laziness among the designers and grounds crew.

Just curious: Why is it your favorite? It certainly is the most colorful field of the pre-dueling endzone helmets era, and maybe ever.

This field may be more disappointing than the one in New York, if that's possible. There used to be two football games whose field designs were distinguished, where you knew it was for the biggest game at their respective levels: 1) the Super Bowl; and 2) the Rose Bowl. The latter has regressed in my view, but it's still first-class. With rare exceptions, the Super Bowl field hasn't really been the same since the end of the dueling helmets end zone era. There's very little about that field in Santa Clara that distinguishes it as a championship game. It might as well be the field for a Week 2 game in September.