NFLPA Executive Director Lloyd Howell Calls on NFL Teams to Install Grass Fields

Aaron Rogers just tore his Achilles tendon on a field-turf surface.

Author:
Russ Heltman
Publish date:
Sep 13, 2023 10:25 AM EDT

In this story:

CINCINNATI — The fallout from Aaron Rodgers' torn Achilles continues as NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell called on all 32 teams to install grass playing surfaces to curb the injuries from field turf.

"Moving all stadium fields to high-quality natural grass surfaces is the easiest decision the NFL can make," Howell said in a statement. "The players overwhelmingly prefer it and the data is clear that grass is simply safer than artificial turf. It is an issue that has been near the top of the players' list during my team visits and one I have raised with the NFL.

"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. 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. This is worth the investment and it simply needs to change now."

Rodgers played four plays on Monday Night Football before tearing his left Achilles tendon.

NFL owners are reticent to install all grass fields because of how much upkeep they require and the added difficulty of hosting concerts/non-football events on top of the surface.

"I really don't think our turf has been a huge problem, or a problem at all, to be quite honest," Blackburn said at the 2023 league meetings. "There's a lot of players who like to play on a grass field, period. They do all kinds of studies. They have a lot of data. But all that data, to process it fairly, you have to take a lot of things into consideration. And so we certainly listen to that, but we also look at what is happening and our own experience, too. I feel like our surface has served us really well so far. Some of our biggest injuries were on grass fields at other spots."

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