Santa Clara (United States) (AFP) – When the New England Patriots team flew to California last weekend to prepare for the Super Bowl, crews wasted no time ripping up the artificial turf in their stadium back home. That is because New England’s Gillette Stadium is a host venue for this summer’s soccer World Cup, which requires real grass playing surfaces for every match.
But the work has intensified anger among NFL players, who overwhelmingly prefer to play on grass, and ask why their owners are happy to cater to other sports while forcing them to keep playing on synthetic turf. “Real good grass just feels a lot better on your knees and your hips and your joints,” said Nick Kallerup, tight end for the Seattle Seahawks, whose home stadium Lumen Field will undergo the same transformation. By contrast, artificial turf is “like running on concrete,” he said. “I really enjoy playing on grass,” agreed Patriots linebacker Chad Muma. “The older you get, the easier it is on your body after the game.”
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The issue has long been a bugbear of the NFL players’ union, which raised the matter again at its annual Super Bowl press conference. Over 90 percent of its members prefer grass, said interim executive director David White, who highlighted data that shows the “energy return” from artificial surfaces is much higher. “Which reinforces what players say just from their experience and from common sense — it’s just harder. It’s harder on the body.” Several players told AFP they believe injuries are less likely on real grass. “There’s less chance of your foot getting stuck. I feel like you don’t see as many non-contact injuries on grass,” said Patriots linebacker Jack Gibbens.
The NFL claims any difference in injuries between the surfaces is statistically insignificant, although the players’ union has accused the league of cherry-picking data from one, outlying season.
This Sunday’s Super Bowl between the Patriots and Seahawks will be played at Levi’s Stadium in California, home of the San Francisco 49ers. Like roughly half of NFL stadiums, the Levi’s always uses real grass. For this enormous game, new grass was specially sourced from a nearby sod farm. It was installed last month and has been carefully tended and aerated under pink LED lights since. Groundskeepers are keen to avoid a repeat of the last Super Bowl at the Levi’s, in 2016, when even the victorious Denver Broncos players complained after the game about the “terrible” slippery surface.
Which raises a key nuance in the debate between grass and artificial turf — typically referred to by players as simply “turf.” “Bad grass, I would say, is worse than turf,” said Gibbens. Particularly in places with harsh wet winters, grass surfaces “can get a little challenging late in the season,” he said. When hosting soccer matches in the past, US football stadiums have often simply laid temporary grass over their synthetic pitches. The resulting patchy surfaces drew criticism at the 2024 Copa America, with players complaining of “frustrating” pitches that felt like “a trampoline.” Those standards were not deemed high enough for the World Cup, and NFL stadiums are installing expensive irrigation and ventilation systems that will allow grass to bed in for several weeks before the tournament.
But, to the chagrin of most players, stadiums like Seattle’s will revert after the World Cup to artificial turf, which is more suitable for hosting non-sports events from concerts to monster truck rallies in the off-season. In one glimmer of progress, the Buffalo Bills — who have played on turf for decades — will move into a brand new stadium with real grass next season.
Still, the debate is not entirely unanimous. “So I feel like a lot of my teammates would say grass. I feel like I play my best games on turf,” admitted Seahawks wide receiver Cody White. “The way I’m able to cut, and do things…I would say turf.” And besides, some of the players’ preferences come down to more subjective — or whimsical — factors. “When you dive down to make a play and you got a little grass stain on you, I think that looks cool too,” said Kallerup.
© 2024 AFP
