re: Former NFL WR Santonio Holmes Says Artificial Turf is Causing Rash of Football Injuries

A guy who used to play at Heinz Field, one of the worst grass fields in the league, talking shite about turf stadiums is rich.

Heinz is notorious for drainage issues and bad field conditions.

I feel like technology has advanced enough to where we can do better than what we currently use. But with the way nfl stadiums are set up, I don’t know how some places would use real grass? It’s not feasible for some teams.


Still, I think the turf/grass is only part of the issue. Guys getting hit below the knees at a much higher rate is another issue because of the flags for “targeting”. Athletes being bigger and faster doesn’t help either. It’s not just grass/turf. But I do think something can be done about making the playing surface better.

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According to the Colts website, at least 23 of the 32 NFL stadiums use the same turf as their stadium.

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I thought roughly half of NFL stadiums had real grass.

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I count 15 natural fields
- Arizona
- Baltimore
- Chicago
- Cleveland
- Denver
- Jacksonville
- Kansas City
- Las Vegas
- Philadelphia
- Miami
- San Francisco
- Tampa Bay
- Pittsburgh
- Washington
- Tennessee


The author of that article misquoted the Colts' website (shocking, I know). I believe that "more than 23" teams use the turf in either their stadiums or practice facilities.

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A: The stadium has 95,000 square feet of a synthetic turf called Fieldturf as the playing surface. More than 23 of the NFL's 32 teams use this turf.

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This past weekend, it appeared that not-grass was a problem because the "sand" in it went flying especially near the sidelines and the cleats just couldn't get a grip.

We sort of know how real turf works and gets worked on through the season, but what treatment is given to the false green and the sand to make sure that there's not so much sand that the cleats can't get into the substrate?

Welcome to 40 years ago Santonio.

Football is meant to be played on grass.

Turf is fine for high schools and municipal parks, where limited resources (both labor and financial) can make it difficult to maintain a quality grass field.

There should be zero Power 5/NFL stadiums with turf.

While I didn’t play on it a lot, my only injury in high school occurred on a turf field. Non-contact strain in my hip flexor. No idea if it’s just a coincidence though.

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field turf was the worst

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it was literally thin layer of fake carpet on concrete. It was a mcl/acl/etc killer.

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Santonio never played at the Vet in Philly

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Many a professional career died there (football and baseball)

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astroturf

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I’ve never played in any artificial surface but I remember that astroturf was like a rubber mat over cement. I couldn’t imagine playing a football game on that garbage.

Remember Wendell Davis? Unbelievably talented and set records at LSU. Went on the play for the Eagles and had two major injuries that ended his career after 2 years. People blamed Astroturf for his injuries. The field at Philly was notoriously rough on players.