The NFL maintains that there is “no significant statistical difference in the number of major injuries from games played on turf versus grass"Getty Images
Jets QB Aaron Rodgers’ season-ending Achilles injury on Monday night “almost immediately rekindled the debate and sparked a new measure of urgency from the players regarding the safety of artificial turf surfaces for NFL games,” according to Tom Rock of NEWSDAY. NFLPA Exec Dir Lloyd Howell yesterday in a statement said that “moving all stadium fields to high quality natural grass surfaces is the easiest decision the NFL can make” and “it simply needs to change now.” However, Rock noted the NFL maintains that there is “no significant statistical difference in the number of major injuries -- Achilles tears, ACL tears, even concussions -- from games played on turf versus grass.” The league also pointed out that there were “two Achilles injuries in Week 1,” and while Rodgers’ occurred on the artificial turf at MetLife Stadium, Ravens RB J.K. Dobbins’ happened on the grass surface at M&T Bank Stadium. Jets coach Robert Saleh said that he “didn’t think the turf was an issue in Rodgers’ injury.” Saleh: “If it was a non-contact injury, I think that’d be something to discuss obviously. I think that was trauma-induced. But I do know the players prefer grass and there’s a lot invested in those young men” (NEWSDAY, 9/13). NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell of the debate over playing surfaces said it is a "complex issue and it’s one of the things we negotiated with our collective bargaining agreement to address this in a way that is done scientifically.” Goodell: “From our standpoint, that’s something we’ll look at, we’ll look deeply at it. You always want to try to get to the best surfaces” (“First Take,” ESPN, 9/13).
PRICE OF WINNING: Howell said that players “know the change would cost money” but argued that the “bigger cost is losing the NFL’s best players to ‘unnecessary injuries.’” The AP’s Teresa Walker noted Panthers LB Shaq Thompson has criticized team owner David Tepper for “replacing grass with an artificial surface at the Panthers’ stadium in 2021 -- in part to host" Charlotte FC. But when the 2026 World Cup is held in North America, “all 11 U.S. venues will be at NFL stadiums," and plans currently “call for host stadiums to use grass mixed with artificial surface.” Goodell on ESPN yesterday said that he is “meeting with the head of FIFA next week about the World Cup.” Walker noted Lambeau Field has “featured Kentucky bluegrass sod weaved in with synthetic fibers since 2018.” Goodell said, “Something that we’re working to try to see is that a better surface for us? Because you have to look at climate too. This is not just about is the field going to be good in September [but] is it also going to be good in December and January?” (AP, 9/13). ESPN’s David Dennis Jr. said, “In the NFL, when presented with the option of wither saving money or increasing their bottomline versus player health, they are always going to go with the bottomline." ESPN’s Mina Kimes: "It seems like small potatoes for the NFL to be taking such a harsh stance on, but they have taken harsher stands on things that don’t involve a lot of money just for the principle" (“Around The Horn,” ESPN, 9/13).
CHECKING THE DATA: CBSSPORTS.com’s Jonathan Jones wrote players call the grass-turf debate a “black-and-white issue,” but the NFL "says it's nuanced.” If the NFL suffers more high-profile injuries on synthetic surfaces to the stars of the sport -- "no matter if those injuries are even directly related to the playing surface -- the complexities will matter less and the noise will become more difficult to avoid or ignore.” The overall injury data is “impossible to ignore,” and the NFL and NFLPA are "in agreement that non-direct contact injury rate is higher on synthetic surfaces than grass.” The 2022 season saw the "biggest gap in injury rates between surfaces since 2016.” Certain synthetic surfaces “perform better than certain natural grass surfaces and vice versa.” It is “important to note that some synthetic surfaces appear to have a lower rate of high-burden injuries like ACL tears compared to other surfaces both synthetic and natural.” But the overall data “clearly and indisputably shows the inferiority of synthetic surfaces when it comes to non-contact injuries” (CBSSPORTS.com, 9/13). ESPN's Kimes said she would “lean” towards believing the players that grass is safer because “they don’t have anything financially to gain from saying that grass is preferable" (“Around The Horn,” ESPN, 9/13). ESPN’s Michael Wilbon said the NFL owners “like to hide behind the notion of player safety” and switching every NFL field to natural grass is an “easy PR move for the owners.” Wilbon: “The league makes all the money in the world and they lie about how much they care about safety” (“PTI,” ESPN, 9/13).
HOME MAINTENANCE: SI’s Albert Breer wrote he is “skeptical” that the NFL would ever ban turf fields. In owners’ minds, 10 home dates and a "few concerts every year won’t cut it from a revenue-generating standpoint.” So they try to “jam every event under the sun into those places.” Accommodating all those events has “made it harder and harder for teams to maintain grass fields.” It is “easier, cheaper and less time-consuming just to throw turf down.” Breer: “To me, what Green Bay’s done gives you the smoking gun.” The Packers “invested big money in making a hybrid natural surface work in Northern Wisconsin -- and it holds up better than almost any other surface in the NFL.” The difference with the Packers, of course, is they “don’t have an owner there to pocket the savings while profiting off non-football stadium events” (SI, 9/13). ESPN’s Frank Isola said “it’s clearly greed” because “think about the amount of events Jerry Jones has in Jerry’s world or SoFi Stadium in L.A." (“Around The Horn,” ESPN, 9/13). WFAN’s Boomer: “I would think everybody would like to play on grass, it just doesn’t make financial sense especially for a stadium that’s got two football teams” (“Boomer and Gio,” WFAN, 9/14).
