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NFL players have asked for years to make grass fields mandatory at their stadiums — this summer, they are, but for another reason.
Seven NFL stadiums that use artificial turf have transformed their playing surfaces to grass for FIFA regulations during the World Cup.
Half the league’s stadiums use turf, despite NFLPA Executive Director Lloyd Howell saying that 92% of the league’s players prefer grass.
Understandably so, Super Bowl champion offensive lineman Andrew Whitworth said he “would definitely be” annoyed with the league if he were still playing.
“I don’t think there’s any doubt about it, only because we’ve voiced so much that we’d love to have it,” Whitworth admitted.
“I get it. Here’s the reality — when you look at these stadiums, they’re entertainment venues. They’re not just for football. From the Taylor Swift tour to you name it, everything happens there. So when you say, all right, from an owning-a-building standpoint, from this being able to operate as a venue like that, I get it. To be able to have concerts, to be able to have all the events they want to have there, you need a harder surface. So you understand that part of it.”
But one of the reasons that Whitworth was “jacked up” to be a Ram was that his division opponents played on grass in their home stadiums. Even when he first signed, the Rams were on grass at the Los Angeles Coliseum.
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At this point, plenty of studies about injuries and playing surfaces are conflicting, but Whitworth said it goes far beyond actual injuries.
“We could nitpick every surface in the world of injury rates, right? But I’ll tell you this — ask the people who actually stand on the grass and the turf, what would you rather play on? There’s no other discussion,” he said. “The reality is everyone wants to play on grass because you feel better.
“At my age, older age or younger, you feel it in your body and in your bones. Forget injuries. You feel it for days after that game. Days and days. You can just feel the difference. I always tell this to people. Go out and take a long walk on concrete in your neighborhood, then go take that same walk on a rubber surface at a track and see how much different you feel in your body. That’s the reality. You play grass games, dude, I would bounce back in a second. Even at 40, I’d play a grass game and be like, ‘Dude, I’m ready to go lift tomorrow. I feel great.’
“But a turf game almost zaps you of all your energy and your bones and all that. So I think whenever we get into it, it’s not just about data. It’s about when these players are saying it’s that extra feeling of another three, four days of, man, I just feel terrible. I feel awful.”
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It was announced late last year that each NFL team will be provided with “a library of approved and accredited NFL fields” before the 2026 season begins. Any new field will immediately have to meet those standards, and all teams will have two years to achieve them. Both grass and synthetic turf fields will be subject to the new standards.
The NFL has no plans to require natural grass fields.
The league’s chief medical officer, Dr. Allen Sills, said there are no “statistically significant differences” in lower-extremity injuries or concussions that can be attributed to the type of playing surface or a specific surface, despite widespread preferences by players for grass fields and complaints about surfaces such as the one at MetLife Stadium, where the New York Giants and Jets play and where the World Cup final will be held on July 19.
Fox News’ Chantz Martin contributed to this report.
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