NFL players have been asking the league for years to scrap artificial turf in favor of grass playing fields, but they turned up the heat Saturday.
Many prominent NFL players tweeted their support of grass fields, prompting an NFL response Saturday evening.
Among the stars tweeting about the issue were Cooper Kupp, George Kittle, Gabe Davis, Dalton Schultz, Nick Bosa and David Bakhtiari.
“I believe that we — and all teams — should be playing on grass,” tweeted Kupp. “This is an age-old issue, and I believe the time to address the problem is now! Let’s have the conversation.”
“No one wants to see players sidelined by injury because owners choose to save money over a bad field,” tweeted Kittle.
“NFL says they care about player safety yet they can’t put us on a natural surface,” tweeted Bosa.
I believe that we — and all teams — should be playing on grass.
This is an age-old issue, and I believe the time to address the problem is now!
Let's have the conversation.#saferfields
— Cooper Kupp (@CooperKupp) November 12, 2022
Field conditions impact everyone, from players to fans to coaches and GMs. No one wants to see players sidelined by injury because owners choose to save money over a bad field. #SaferFields @NFLPA @nfl
— George Kittle (@gkittle46) November 12, 2022
Nfl says they care about player safety yet they can’t put us on a natural surface #saferfields
— Nick Bosa (@nbsmallerbear) November 12, 2022
The data is clear and the NFL agrees: Slit film synthetic surface is bad for players, and there is a higher injury rate than on grass or any other synthetic surface. #SaferFields
— Gabe Davis (@gabedavisO) November 12, 2022
It’s crazy. When European soccer clubs come here to play, the stadiums quickly convert from turf to grass. WHY NOT FOR ITS OWN PLAYERS?!? There’s no excuse league wide; EVEN Green Bay can have/grow grass for the season! #SaferFields
— David Bakhtiari (@DavidBakhtiari) November 12, 2022
We know the data – our union and the league agree that we should eliminate slit film turf. The NFL isn’t willing to mandate this change, so we as players are going to keep talking about this issue until it changes. #SaferFields
— Dalton Schultz (@BinghamBaller9) November 12, 2022
The NFLPA retweeted the players’ tweets, amplifying their message and reach in their PR campaign to get team owners to adopt grass fields. The NFL responded to the Twitter campaign Saturday evening with a statement by Jeff Miller, the NFL’s executive vice president of communications, public affairs and policy.
“As the NFLPA knows from the meeting of our Joint Field Surface Safety & Performance Committee earlier this month, there was no difference between the number of injuries on synthetic surfaces versus grass,” Miller said (via Pro Football Talk). “While slit-film surfaces, one type of synthetic material, have 2-3 more injuries per year, most of them are ankle sprains — a low-burden injury — whereas slit film also sees a lower rate of fewer high-burden ACL injuries compared to other synthetic fields. As a result, the league and NFLPA’s joint experts did not recommend any changes to surfaces at the meeting but agreed more study is needed.”
Seven teams play on the slit-film surface, which the NFLPA claims leads to “higher in-game injury rates.”
