On Monday evening, 11 Sep 2023, a professional Football game featured the NY Jets and the Buffalo Bills. NY Jet QB, Aaron Rodgers, formerly of the GB Packers, injured his ankle on his fourth play of the game as a Jet. There were people that thought he was faking the injury, for the sake of television coverage, and to draw attention to himself. That aside, his injury turned out to be a torn Achilles tendon that will have him out of football for the whole season. It is a devastating injury. That injury has amped up calls from the National Football Players Association for all fields to use natural grass. The following Wednesday he already had surgery.
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| McFarland, WI High School--Artificial Surface Field |
Roger Goodell, the master mind behind the money of the NFL such as its 17 game season, its overseas play, its Thursday night games through the season, has argued to let science dictate. But, what science do you believe? He points to some studies to prove his point that an artificial playing surface is safe. The NFLPA points to other medical studies which note that artificial surfaces result in a higher rate of injury than natural grass. The sad thing is our language has so many euphemisms, such that our language gets screwed up. For example, for artificial surfaces many refer to them as turf. I will refer to them as artificial surfaces. To me turf is grass, that is natural grass, not an artificial playing field. It is like people using the term of solar farm, and a solar farm is not a farm, but an electrical generating facility, or power plant. "Solar farm" puts a more positive spin on the power generating facility. A farm is a tract of land that grows crops, and livestock for consumption. You do not eat solar power. Back to artificial surfaces.
Some stadiums have domes, but technology today would allow the use of natural grass in dome stadiums. For example, the Arizona Cardinals, and Las Vegas Raiders stadiums are both enclosed, but have a roll-out natural grass field to get sunlight. The Vegas stadium has an artificial surface field that is used by a college team, which preferred the artificial surface. The Viking stadium is in downtown Minneapolis and likely lack the ability for a roll out field. The Green Bay Packers use high intensity lights to help the field stay green during dark winter days. Fifteen of the NFL teams have their home games on natural grass with 17 on an artificial surface, with one of those being the Jets, who share a stadium with the Giants. The two LA teams also share a stadium. It is said that grass can take only so many events in one season, and that is the reason why so many high schools are moving to an artificial surface. The trend in Dane County began with Middleton High School, and it is now very common. McFarland High School installed an artificial surface as part of a large building binge a few years ago.
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| Arizona Cardinal Home Stadium Field with Natural Grass Outside to absorb the sun |
Artificial surfaces have a high installation, but low maintenance cost. However, Front Office Sports reports that it would cost the NFL $12 million to convert all of the artificial surfaced NFL stadiums to natural grass. The price includes money for demolition, underlayment, and irrigation systems. And, they even allocated money for lay and play sod. That is about 21% of QB Joe Burrow's (who laid an egg in the first game of the season) annual salary. (Perhaps until Mahomes restructured his contract, Burrow was the highest paid player in the NFL.) It is affordable.
The question arises, are the varied artificial surfaces safe? It is not necessarily an easy answer, as technology also seems to have improved artificial surfaces, so it is said. I found one on-line study which reported on an analysis of 53 articles in medical journals from 1973 to 2019. However, of the studies on artificial surfaces, most (13 of 18) were on the newer generation of artificial surface materials. The analysis found that ankle and foot injuries were more common on artificial surfaces than natural grass. This was the case for both old and new "turf" fields. It also reported that knee and hip injuries were greater for soccer players on an artificial than a natural grass surface. Further, it found that high level football players were more likely to suffer a knee injury on an artificial surface than a grass surface. The studies Roger Goodell is looking at may have been the ones funded by the artificial surface industry. That study noted that only a few studies concluded that injuries on grass were higher than artificial surfaces, all of those having been funded by the industry. They plan on converting, perhaps temporarily, some artificial surfaces from fake grass to natural grass for a soccer tournament. This has Packer left tackle upset at how pro football players are treated.
The Aaron Rodgers discussion seemed to focus on non-contact injuries, basically insinuating that contact injuries are not explainable by the playing surface. Yet, that is wrong, as the way the foot grabs an artificial surface can be too much, even on the softer ones which can be too soft. Aaron Rodgers made that comment about too soft a field holding the foot too long regarding the new field installed where the Jets and Giants play.
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| Arizona Cardinal Home Stadium Field being moved in from outdoors |
Eli Manning, a now retired super bowl winning QB, who played at the stadium in which Rodgers was injured, (although on a different playing surface) seems to think the surface had no effect on Rodgers' ankle injury. He also argues that the artificial surface is more reliable and consistent for play compared to a grass field. For example, he says that a game the prior day (Giants--Dallas) in rain would have affected the natural surface to make it less playable the Monday. Apparently, Eli wants perfect conditions. Maybe he did not like to get muddy. The two NY teams played on that weekend at home due to 9/11, and the NFL thinking it would be a good thing. Not because they both had to play at home that same weekend. The NFL simply could make one home game a week on a playing surface. Having an artificial surface may provide the NFL more leeway in scheduling than real grass. Another reason why Roger Goodell may not like a real grass field.
The sad thing is it took an injury to a four time NFL MVP to bring the discussion into the open. Meanwhile, artificial surface use keeps expanding, due to its lower maintenance. They are now in use in high schools, and becoming more common for many programs and districts. Although it has a high upfront cost, which as part of a larger school referendum is rather a minor percent. In McFarland, say the field cost $1 million, not a high percent of a $65 million dollar referendum. Schools are notorious for wasting taxpayer dollars, doing little maintenance to justify new buildings, and the voters eat it up. For the sake of the children. But, apparently, these same voters look the other way when the health of the soccer and football players is at risk on an artificial surface. How much punishment can a body take playing on an artificial surface. I have to think there is some type of long-term wear on varied structures of the body--almost like concussions, but for different body areas. The more concussions you have, the more dangerous it becomes.
Many people do not like Aaron Rodgers, but they should not let that blind them to the severity of his injury. They can revel all they want in their schadenfreude, but they too should be concerned. It could be another player that suffers a similar injury. If Roger Goodell wants a 17 game season to continue, he has to bear in mind the attrition of quality players as the season goes on. It may make the Goodell Love Fest, the Super Bowl, more about a team that had the fewest injuries, than about the best team in the NFL. We should not equate a Super Bowl win with the best team given injuries. I also wonder if those who play on grass for home games are at a disadvantage, of now totally understanding the intricacies of play on artificial surfaces. The No Fun League is all about money for Roger, and the owners of the 31 teams, and the one community owned team. Roger's annual salary of almost $64 million makes the automaker CEO salaries seem minor. From an economic standpoint Roger and the NFL do not make money, they take money. That is why the turf wars will continue--it is all about what Roger wants.
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