Total Pro Sports
In a new interview, former New Orleans Saints star running back Reggie Bush called out the NFL for still permitting turf field playing surfaces despite its tremendously high unpopularity among players.
Reggie Bush never fully lived up to expectations as the No. 2 pick of the 2006 NFL Draft, but it’s not fair to label him as a bust, either. Despite numerous injuries (he only played 16 games in a season twice), Bush had two 1,000-yard seasons and helped the Saints to a Super Bowl 44 championship in the 2009 season.
During an interview with Matthew Roberson of GQ, Bush was asked what could have allowed him to play 20 years in the NFL if he had been introduced to them much sooner. Bush cited turf fields and strongly voiced his desire for the NFL to ban them, noting how much players “hate” the playing surfaces:
“You plant your foot into that turf and what happens is turf will grab. Grass gives. If I plant my foot going full speed on grass, it’s going to tear a little bit and give. If I’m that same athlete and I plant my foot on rubber, fake grass, and I plant my cleat full speed, it’s going to grab. I’m going to be able to stop a lot harder, but my joints are going to suffer because of that.
You see guys not even get touched [get a] torn ACL. Odell Beckham Jr. in the Super Bowl tore his ACL and pretty much ended his career. He hasn’t really recovered since, but it’s all from turf.
Unfortunately, NFL owners still believe that turf is the cheapest, most cost-efficient way in a league that annualizes billions every year. It’s not adding up to me. It’s a repetitive cycle, and it’s going to continue. It’s unfortunate. It will continue until the players decide to stand up and say, “Listen, we don’t want to play on turf anymore.” The thing is, all players hate it.”
15 of the NFL’s 30 stadiums use natural grass. SoFi Stadium (home of the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers and Los Angeles Rams) and MetLife Stadium (home of the New York Giants and New York Jets) use artificial turf, so just over half (17 total) of the NFL teams are playing on artificial turf surfaces.
The 40-year-old Reggie Bush spent five seasons with the Saints and two with the Detroit Lions. Both those teams play on artificial turf. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that Bush’s career year (2011) and third-best season (2012) came with the Miami Dolphins, who play on natural grass.
Bush arrived in New Orleans in 2006, the first year of the Drew Brees-Sean Payton era. That year, he racked up 1,307 yards of offense and eight total touchdowns as the Saints made a surprise trip to the NFC Championship Game.
Unfortunately, Bush missed multiple games in each of the next four years and...
