NFLPA leader calls for natural grass in all NFL stadiums
The new artificial turf at MetLife Stadium was installed for this Jets and Giants seasons. Credit: Lee S. Weissman
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Aaron Rodgers’ season-ending Achilles injury 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.
On Wednesday morning, newly elected NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell issued a statement saying, in part, 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.”
“While we know there is an investment to making this change, there is a bigger cost to everyone in our business if we keep losing our best players to unnecessary injuries,” Howell said. “It makes no sense that stadiums can flip over to superior grass surfaces when the World Cup comes, or soccer clubs come to visit for exhibition games in the summer, but inferior artificial surfaces are acceptable for our own players.”
Several stadiums, including MetLife Stadium and SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, either have switched to natural grass for soccer events or plan to do so when hosting World Cup matches in 2024.
The NFL, though, 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.
Appearing on ESPN’s “First Take” Wednesday morning, commissioner Roger Goodell acknowledged the anecdotal desire of many players to play on grass. “You have other players who like playing on the turf field, because it’s faster, so you’ve got mixed opinions,” Goodell said. “What we want to go on is science, we want to go on what’s the best from an injury standpoint . . . That’s how we make decisions, not because I see an injury that I don’t like.”
The league also pointed out that there were two Achilles injuries in Week 1. Rodgers’ occurred on the artificial turf at MetLife Stadium, while Ravens running back J.K. Dobbins’ happened on a grass surface in Baltimore.
“Because an injury occurs on a surface doesn’t mean the surface was a cause of the injury,” NFL executive vice president Jeff Miller said on a conference call Tuesday.
Logically, the main reason for Rodgers’ injury was him having his lower body wrenched by a 240-pound opponent. Jets coach Robert Saleh, who was a coach for the 49ers when they lost players to knee injuries in a game at MetLife Stadium, said he didn’t think the turf was an issue in Rodgers’ injury.
“If it was a non-contact injury, I think that’d be something to discuss obviously,” Saleh said on Tuesday. “I think that was trauma-induced. But I do know the players prefer grass and there’s a lot invested in those young men.”
But almost immediately fellow players argued on social media that the surface played a significant role in the events.
“How many more players have to get hurt on ARTIFICIAL TURF??!” asked Packers tackle and former Rodgers teammate David Bakhtiari in a social media post, noting the World Cup plans. “Clearly it’s feasible. I’m sick of this. Do better!”
Even after the game, some Jets players were voicing opinions on the surface.
“I’ve never been a fan and never will be a fan of turf,” another fellow Packer and current Jets receiver Randall Cobb said. “Premier League will do everything they can to protect the players with grass fields, but the NFL is more worried about making money. Profit over people. That’s always been the case.”
Jets center Connor McGovern said Wednesday that the difference between turf and grass is noticeable.
“My stance is I think everything should be played on grass,” McGovern said. “You feel a difference when you play a game on grass and then on turf. When I was a young player I didn’t quite believe it but, now that I have gotten to the age I am at, you feel it in your ankles, knees, hips, back. The torque that you end up generating through the turf wears on your body so much more, and you’re not even talking about injuries and cleats stuck in the ground.”
That the Rodgers injury occurred at a stadium that has become notorious for injuries only added to the arguments. The surface at MetLife Stadium was replaced for this season with a different artificial turf that Giants and Jets players say is somewhat softer and more giving than the previous version.
That didn’t stop other players from blaming a building that has developed a grim reputation throughout the league.
"I had high hopes for him being in a new jersey," Eagles cornerback Darius Slay told reporters regarding Rodgers’ move to the Jets. “But then MetLife, everyone knows about that stadium. They need to get real grass. That's trash.”
“I know here, there’s a lot of concerts and things like that and that’s probably the reasons they didn’t do it,” Jets linebacker C.J. Mosley said. “But I feel that has to be something that changes. Grass is better for your body better for your knees.”
A month ago, however, Rogers gave his stamp of approval to the MetLife playing surface.
“It’s supposedly the newest and the greatest,” he said following his preseason appearance on it in August. “It’s been one of the best surfaces I’ve seen that’s artificial. It’s our surface, so we’re going to enjoy it. I’ve always felt a little faster on turf, so I look forward to that.”
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
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