Make grass real again

Huge slap in the face to players that owners are willing to lay down grass only for FIFA

The hypocrisy of changing the kickoff rules for “safety” while ignoring the playing surface is staggering. Also, you should give Mark Davis credit, from day one of building the dome stadium in LV, the stadium having real grass was a Nonnegotiable!

Really hope this starts to gather more steam. I’ve been saying for years that watching a game on grass just looks better and feels more like real football. Happy that the injury data now supports grass too.

"We know turf is dangerous, but grass is expensive! Let's just cancel kickoffs. That's free." -- NFL Owners

I have NEVER heard you two get so worked up on ANYTHING and that’s saying something. I love this! Incredible, balls out advocacy on behalf of the players in a game we all love - so proud of you Mike and Chris!! Thank you, behind you 100% on this. NFL you’ve been put on notice

Very good points made. If the NFL really cared about their employees this would be item #1 on list of league fixes.

Artificial turf is also like 20 degrees hotter than grass.

If grass is more safe for concussions that should end the argument there immediately

im glad there is some medical backing behind this bc i’ve been hearing this for yrs from football players

For all the talk about changing rules of the game to make it safer, this probably would have the biggest impact to reduce injuries.

Yet the fans always are on the side of owners wherever there is a contract dispute. Wealthy owners continously display how little they care for their workers yet we still have so many simps for them. Smh

Also, the rubber fake dirt “turf turds” can be hazardous. They are ground up old tires. I’ve spent 20 summers teaching drum corps and marching bands on them and my skin would get hives and be irritated if I touched it.

Great subject guys !!! The turf has been keeping my team ( Chargers )injured for years , cheap ass owners !!! Vegas has managed to use grass in a dome stadium , it can be done !!!

Grass fields should be required. So much money in football and they won't spend a little more for grass? Absurd! I'll also add that not all turf fields are the same and more modern ones are designed a lot better, to cushion and give more like real grass&dirt. A first step could be 'all turf fields need to achieve these levels of performance...'. At least most are not turf rolled out on top of concrete like it was in the Eagle's old stadium!

Another issue is the heat. I remember playing in 100 degree weather and the turf would reflect the heat back up at us causing heat injuries. It was so bad our tape would actually melt.

This should have been changed instead of the kick off rule.

This is an epidemic across all American corporations people don’t matter profit is the only thing that matters over the health and well being of people. People are expendable just resources of wealth and profit to their stock holding members. Please let’s start demanding better treatment to all people.

I tore the hell out of my ankle playing high school football on a turf field 15 years ago. Normal contested jump for a ball, came down just slightly off and you could feel all the energy that should’ve been absorbed by the field get pushed back into my ankle and I tore 2 ligaments. Weirdest injury I’ve every had and it still gives me trouble in my 30s.

Finally you guys are right about something, grass is the way to go

The highschool part hit home because as a kid i thought that my school having a turf field was super cool because the nfl had it. Now im wondering if my friend still would have torn his ACL on a grasa field

Travis Kelce on his podcast with his brother Jason, said that the first thing he did when the schedule was released was count how many games are played on turf and was relieved when that number was low.

This is your best video yet, Mssrs Florio and Simms.

@1:39 exactlyyy how I tore my ACL senior year in high school. Changed my life forever

Played soccer in high school on turf. The differences between turf and grass are stark on the body in more than football

Y’all doing the lord’s work! Make grass great again!!!

Pay attention Woody Johnson, we have had so many injuries over the past 5 years it’s ridiculous

Simms is smoking raving mad and I am here for it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Turf manufacturers just need a new permeable substrate and that absorbs impact. Seems like a VERY easy solution.

Of all the places and all the teams I can't see why the Seahawks don't play on grass !!!!!!

Totally agree turf needs to be banned. FYI Mike: Carolina Panthers replaced their grass field with turf several years ago after David Tepper bought the team. Supposedly to allow more concerts to be held at BOA Stadium.

Love these guys

I played a pickup game, 2-hand touch, on turf at UPenn while in vet school 40 years ago. A bunch of was went to the stadium after class one afternoon, all excited to play on turf. It was awful! We were all past our prime of course. The next morning we all limped into lecture. This segment is why Florio and Simms are my favorites. They aren’t afraid to poke the beast when the beast needs prodding.

Anyone remember the Eagle's old turf they had? Often is was referred to as concrete that was spray painted green

unrelated sport but the Blue Jays ditched their turf for grass and aside from the fact that all sports games should be played on natural grass however the reason I bring that up is because I know it wasnt as simple as tearing the turf out of the stadium and replacing it with real grass. The Jays had done like 3 or 4 years worth of study as to what type of grass would be perfect for their park/environment as well as had to redesign the lower bowl of the stadium in order to set up a drainage system and some other things that are required to maintain a grass field. But yes, all new stadiums should have grass. All old stadiums should be phasing this out if they're doing any upgrades to their stadiums.

THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FOOTBALL VIDEO ON THE INTERNET TODAY.

Makes me wonder if dak would have been ok playing on grass instead of turf back in 2020 when he broke his ankle

Playing football ⚽ on 3g AstroTurf is brutal, even when we play without sliding. So playing American football where there's so many falls and impacts is ridiculous. I think maybe there would be more ankle injuries on grass but it's definitely the way forward.

Two points, both obvious. 1.)The cost for natural vs. artificial turf (including maintenance) is substantially higher, but negligible when considering all team costs 2.) Owners don’t care about injuries-there is always a waiting list of athletes willing to risk safety for money. Chastise them all you like. They will never change.

Good takes right here. Needs to be said.

I'm pro-grass fields, but what do you do if you have a stadium where grass just won't grow (too cold, domed stadiums, etc.)?

I agree with all the points about player safety. I also understand the logistics and that it may be impossible at certain stadiums to have grass. Could a compromise be that the NFL partners with some major company to develop a new type of artificial surface that closely mimics grass? I don't know, we have space ships, there has to be a way to make a better field.

Happy my steelers have been using grass fields for decades now

I would also make the argument that the injuries that do occur on grass, aren't being caused by the grass. These guys are playing probably 50% of their games on turf, even if their home stadium has grass. I would hazard a guess, that it's the games on the turf that are causing the stress on the joints, ligaments and muscles, and the injury only co-incidentally occurs on the grass.

Only one soccer team in the UK (luton town) ever put in artficial turf into their stadium and it was reviled, they tore it out decades back.

Thank you, hopefully we can help future generations!

The only playing time I've had on turf was ultimate frisbee in highschool. We'd usually play barefoot because it felt better than playing in your shoes. Still I remember my calves always being sore at the end. This is coming from someone that ran cross country and distance track. So I was a pavement pounder and turf still took a toll on me. I think that's why we all gravitated to playing barefoot, even in the winter, your shoe would never grab the turf if you weren't wearing any

could not agree more with this, they dont care about the actual safety of the players, they just want people to think they are making strides to help.

Tore my acl on turf. Decent number I guys I played with tore theirs as well

One thousand thumbs up!

A LOT MORE is quite implied here other than just the turf.

Follow what Mark Davis did in Vegas. Perfect grass field.

You can’t have concerts on grass, we do it in Australia all the time, Adelaide oval has hosted foo fighters, u2, ac dc Taylor swift etc, all on grass. You put a plastic screen down for the night over the oval, then take it back up

Especially on the HS level…they’re obviously not employing the most cutting edge surface in the way the NFL might.

Real talk… so many knee injuries

Back after Aaron Rodgers tore is ankle on the worst turf in the league at MetLife. I'm a 49ers fan and remember 2020.

Imagine if the NBA allowed teams to play on natural wood, vinyl flooring or asphalt throughout their season Lol

Well derr .. . I remember Barry Saunders and his ankle.

Yet the owners (and many fans) want domed stadiums to play and watch the game in. Soon GB will be the only grass field in the NFC North because of cold weather domes. The number of turf fields are destined to grow not decrease.

Mark Davis is the poorest owner and he maintains a grass field in a Dome in the desert

Make real grass mandatory league wide. Makes for a better game anyway.

I play soccer but I refuse to wear cleats id rather just fall and playing goalie jumping and landing on it is awful

I hate turf

The NFL PA needs to threaten to strike unless they go to grass. The Union has the power. They need to force this. Players need to refuse to sign contracts unless they play on grass. Just like FIFA does.

Trust me HS install field turf not because the NFL uses it but because it is long term cheaper and much more durable. There may be five different FB teams using one field almost daily, then add over lap w two soccer teams. Watering and replacement sod costs can run to serious money every year and still eventually the field is just gonna crap out. Having said that, it was a disgrace that owner David Tepper replaced a at one time great grass field w turf just so it could take the beating of an NFL season plus an MLS season plus other events. Turf is 100x more dangerous than kickoffs and the NFL cynically knows this.

Yes! Real grass... All weather conditions... The purity and beauty of the sport that other sports don't have. And stop trying to take the goddamn "Foot" out of NFL Football!

The only issue I have with any of this is the fact that non contact injuries are higher on turf than grass with research. Contact injuries on turf is minimally higher on turf over grass. So Rodgers likely would have gotten hurt on either surface...... second players say they hate turf because it's hard. But in actually is the turf that gives away that causes more sliding and twisting that causes injury. Thirdly grass surface is dependent on weather rain, snow frozen. The play source significantly changes. Are we going to cancel games because of rain, snow, it's too cold, it's too hot etc. Etc. Because the surface is unsafe???? Sooo many variables non of these "convinced" experts are considering.

The field in Carolina that was "like concrete" this past season was artificial turf. They used to have a fantastic natural grass field, but Tepper ripped it up so he could "bring music to Charlotte"

All issues aside... Mike Florio's upturned collar bugs the heck out of me haha

Cincinnati can see Kentucky from downtown. Yes they are using turf. Joe Burrow would love some good old bluegrass.

grass is great, in the best conditions

100%

Schools use turf for big high school stadiums so they can play Thursday, twice Friday and Saturday rain or shine. They have band competitions. Quite a few other things. None of what you are saying is wrong but it isn't the only issue.

Im big on this, get rid of turf

I mean I don't see how there hasn't been a lawsuit over this from a class action of high school athlete's

What’s more expensive? Switching to grass or losing a $20 million player for the season from an ACL tear? I’m legit curious. Cause maybe it’s a business decision

As someone who’s not a fan of football (I’m an nba,mlb,mls, and nhl fan) doesn’t the nfl play the fewest games? Keeping grass field healthy is expensive and only playing less than 20 games a season doesn’t justify the cost especially during off season.

Small social clubs in South America keep grass field. They’re just greedy as it gets

does data prove there are more injuries on turf than on grass?

I'd like to drop my application in the 🎩for the Head Chairman of the NFL Grass Commission.

And it'll be better for the environment. Grass like any other plant purifies air and gives oxygen back in return. There's no downside to having grass except the cost of maintenance which the owners can most definitely afford.

Grass fields only

My question is this: Why doesn't the NFLPA demand that games be played on grass? Do they not have the power to force such a change as part of the CBA? It's clear the NFL can afford it. Soccer players made grass fields a condition of their participation in the World Cup games. NFL players need to do the same. Owners aren't going to change this willingly.

I've been away for a while. I'd assumed all the hoopla concerning turf had been satisfactorily addressed by the Dow Chemical Corp. or some such entity - and everyone was a-ok with the outcome, based on the low-volume blowback that occasionally pops up but never gathers steam. I am getting a sense that that hasn't been the case. So, I have a question. WTF good is a player's union if turf is still present anyplace other than the history books? There ought to be a class-action suit (player sponsored) against somebody - either the NFL or the Player's Association - I would suggest against the NFLPA, as they would have the resources and documentation to assure that responsibility is appropriately re-directed if necessary - with player eligibility reaching posthumously to former players and families that have either lived or died with the long-term consequences resulting from egregious negligence. Original turf was like playing on cement sidewalks, ffs. Everyone knew that. This latter generation stuff almost sounds like it was intentionally engineered to be worse. Holy sh*t.

Can the league just ban them already. We've been talking about this same damn issue since the 60s-70s, it's time to get rid of em!

Turf is fine, its actually better than grass... atleast thats what the NFL tells me and we can trust them right?

As non American I'm in shock they don't use real grass over there in the US wtf

Actually the issue with soccer is that the ball skips on turf instead the bounce you get on natural grass. The ball is on the ground in soccer 90% of the time so it greatly affects play. FIFA doesn't care about it's players either. Now FIFA allows turf in places they cant grow grass. Turf is better than dirt.

The crazy thing is how owners and the league are so penny wise and dollar foolish on this. Player salaries are going to keep climbing, so their investment in players is going to keep climbing as well. You have to pay players more and more for their on field performance yet you make conditions for them worse and worse so it's harder to stay on the field. Makes no sense. Specifically, if we're talking about Jerry Jones, he just finished a pretty bad contract for Zeke where he was hurt a lot. His QB has a reconstructed ankle/leg and making 40mil+ a year. He's paying all this money but won't spend the little amounts so that he can get max value out of those contracts. It's so dumb. You don't have to care about the players to do this, care about yourself and your money.

No one ever brings up: What kind of cleats are these guys wearing? Grass can have divots and be as harmful no? What about when it rains and the ground becomes soggy?

It’s not the field u can get injured on grass to it’s just spray of the game freak accident happens all the time in the sport.

Watch a baseball bounce on turf vs grass. Don’t need any data or studies to see what’s better.

Oh and btw those rubber pellets are extremely toxic

Why do the niners get so many injuries? They play on grass.

So in soccer for international friendlies Mexico who mostly plays in USA for money reasons because they bring in more fans to a game then USA does lol anyway they typically have to play in stadiums because of the number of fans they try to cram in. They mostly choose NFL stadiums especially Arlington Texas stadium . Sure they pack the arena but these players play on grass everyday and they always end up injured after the international break. Because it’s a friendly the NFL stadiums aren’t gona switch to grass from one game and the Mexican federation could care less they just want ticket sales so it’s just sooo bad to play in

Super Bowl field was an embarrassment

...and here we are again. rodgers future hof torn achilles. You called it. NFL still not getting rid of turf

This video needs actual data. "a source revealed 2022 injury data for turf fields was “awful”" - what does that mean? What are the numbers? Doesn't NBC have some interns who can compile all the injury data from the NFL and break it down by field type? Furthermore, yelling at NFL owners is useless. The only way to get concessions out of them is for the players to go on strike. Some / most / all players may prefer to play on high-quality natural grass, but unless they want it badly enough to go on strike for as long as it takes to bring the owners to heel, they want it less than they want their uninterrupted paychecks. The NFL owners have always shown they are ready to play hardball, or in this case hard turf. If NFL players want the same consideration that the World Cup gets, they have to do what the World Cup did, and say give us grass or we don't play. Another option is for NFL players themselves to pay for grass. Grass doesn't grow naturally after October in many northern locations, and the low Sun angle in winter may further reduce the meager winter sunshine that gets past the stands and down to the field. Domed stadiums without retractable roofs might never get enough sunshine to grow grass. Heroic measures may be necessary to maintain grass fields through harsh northern winters, such as growing grass on large trays in greehouses and switching out the entire playing surface regularly. Without such measures, grass rapidly deteriorates in a northern winter and the result may be worse than playing on artificial turf. Recall the history of Paycor (formerly Paul Brown) stadium in Cincinnati. According to Wikipedia: "For its first four years, the field was natural Kentucky Bluegrass, but maintenance problems arose, and at one point it was rated as the third worst field in the league.[11] Hamilton County explored other options and chose the synthetic FieldTurf system.[12] The infilled artificial turf looks and feels like real grass and, since the field markings are sewn into the fabric, repainting between games is unnecessary. The reduced maintenance saved the county approximately US$100,000 annually." According to Wikipedia, Mike Brown doesn't even pay for the field upkeep - Hamilton County taxpayers like me do! Football players make millions, some of them well into the tens of millions, and they're whining for me to pay more taxes so they can play on grass. Natural grass wasn't even better when the Bengals brain trust tried to grow it.

Trust me, I'd rather play on crappy grass than Artificial grass

Nobody wants to say it, but the players should simply go on strike and refuse to play on turf fields...nobody is putting a gun to their heads. Or at least bring it up when the next CBA is negotiated