Despite being one of the wealthiest sports teams in the world, Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys is unwilling to convert AT&T Field to a permanent grass field, a decision that would both positively impact his players’ health and establish a precedent for the NFL.
Players argued for the relative safety of playing on natural grass, and the debate against artificial turf gained momentum after New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers suffered a season-ending injury during “Monday Night Football” in Week 1.
MeLife Stadium, where Rodgers suffered his Achilles tendon injury while playing for the Giants and Jets, is among the roughly half of NFL venues that choose artificial turf over natural grass.
Though there are other motivations, financial gain is the most sensible. These large NFL stadiums can accommodate concerts and other events because artificial turf is simple to set up. This is more challenging with traditional grass fields, but it is still possible.
Dak Prescott, the quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys, stated in a Sports Illustrated article that he is a “100-percent grass guy” and speculated that playing on the AT&T Stadium turf may have contributed to his season-ending fractured ankle in Week 5 of the 2020 season. He also pushed for the league to standardize on natural grass.
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Indeed, Dak declared, “I’m a grass guy 100% of the time.” “My injury has a major impact on that. I am aware of how rough the game is and how players are being tackled. My personal opinion is that grass is far safer than turf.”
According to an NBC News report from 2023, seven out of the ten stadiums with the highest average number of injuries have synthetic turf installed rather than real grass.
Prescott was careful to emphasize how easy a repair this could be, given that the owner of his team is among the richest men in the world, the NFL brings in billions of dollars year, and all of that money goes directly to the Dallas Cowboys organization.
Since this is a billion-dollar industry, you always want to have the greatest product available. So, disregard the weather and everything else, and let’s determine who is superior.
There are two full-sized fields at the Cowboys’ practice facility at The Star. One has synthetic grass, the other artificial turf. When asked about the discussion, Dallas coach Mike McCarthy made a hint about that.
McCarthy stated, “We practice on the grass every single day,” with great clarity.
NFL players are outraged by the Dallas Cowboys’ decision to play their upcoming soccer match on grass.
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Cowboys wide receiver CeeeDee Lamb not only endorsed grass fields, but he also made a suggestion that team owner Jerry Jones ought to be the one to start the transition.
That’s all there is to it. Grass, but I can’t tell Jerry nothing,” Lamb remarked. It’s simple: grass is necessary for us. We feel better on that grass.
The Dallas Cowboys are breaking their tight rule of only using artificial turf this weekend. For the CONCACAF Nations League games this weekend, AT&T Stadium will be using new flooring.
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The stadium usually has a turf surface, but because CONCACAF games must take place on grass, it switched to grass for this weekend’s games.
Although NFL offensive tackle David Bakhtiari thinks it’s a good thing for soccer players, he’s not thrilled about it. Why each stadium in the NFL can’t have a full grass surface baffles him. He’s obviously not alone, either.
He tweeted, “But not for NFL players.”
Several NFL players, like Bakhtiari, would rather play on grass than turf. Compared to grass, players on turf grounds feel far worse after training and games.
Josh Allen, the quarterback for the Buffalo Bills, is a huge fan of grass fields.
As players, we’ve been advocating for this for a while. After turf training or games, our bodies react very differently than they do on grass, Allen stated in September of last year.
Currently, natural grass fields are found in 15 NFL stadiums, while various forms of turf are found in the remaining 15. Every stadium has the option to convert to grass if it so chooses, but there is still no end in sight to this argument.
Due of his stale attitude to free agency, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is currently unpopular with his fan base. Players throughout the league have evidently taken issue with this choice.
