Grass surfaces are better for athlete’s bodies.
The National Football League Players Association again wants NFL owners to get rid of artificial turf and have the players compete on grass surfaces. The NFLPA probably should go after the people who run the facilities that the teams use. Local governments as virtually all 31 NFL owners and the Green Bay Packers Board of Directors have public-private partnerships which range from municipalities giving teams money outright or funding facilities or giving owners tax breaks or tax incentives to put up money to help pay down stadium debt.
NFLPA Executive Director Lloyd Howell released a statement following New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ Achillies tear that the players want to play on grass. “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,” said Howell. “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.” The NFLPA should demand a seat at the table in the government partnership with NFL owners and press on the politicians the need for safety because NFL owners frankly don’t care very much about the players historically. Commissioner Roger Goodell has no problems with the fake grass. “They have said that in many cases, but you also have other players who like playing on the turf field because it’s faster,” Goodell said. “You got mixed opinions. What we want to go is on science. We want to go on what’s the best from an injury standpoint to prevent the injuries to give our players the best possible surface to play on.” It seems cheaper to maintain fake grass than real grass.
Evan Weiner’s books are available at iTunes – https://books.apple.com/us/author/evan-weiner/id595575191
Evan can be reached at evan_weiner@hotmail.com
