BroBible
NFL players were sad to see their employers remove the natural grass playing surface from the World Cup in a return to artificial turf for the upcoming football season. New York Giants offensive lineman Jermaine Eluemunor wants to set the record straight.
Anything is better than plastic.
Unfortunately, NFL owners do not seem to care. They are only focused on what serves their bank accounts instead of what serves their players.
11 National Football League stadiums were selected as a host venue for the 2026 World Cup. The majority of those stadiums typically use synthetic turf as their primary playing surface but FIFA requires all of its matches to be played on natural grass.
As a result, MetLife Stadium, AT&T Stadium, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, SoFi Stadium, Gilette Stadium, NRG Stadium and Lumen Field installed a temporary natural grass surface on top of the artificial turf for the international soccer tournament.
Although there were some initial concerns about the condition of the fields, it was never an issue. The grass was pristine.
However, the natural grass surfaces were removed from all seven stadiums after its final match. NFL players and coaches were extremely disappointed. Even John Harbaugh made a plea for MetLife Stadium to stay with grass over turf. It fell on deaf ears.
George Kittle is one of the most vocal advocates for change. He took aim at the NFL while at the World Cup Final in New York.
The San Francisco 49ers tight end wants to play on grass, not turf.
Other athletes showed their support from a distance.
#worththecost was trending on social media.
NFL players asked their owners to make the same commitment to their own players as they did FIFA and soccer players.
New York Giants offensive lineman Jermaine Eluemunor was also in attendance at the World Cup final. He got to see Argentina and Spain play on natural grass in his home stadium while he is forced to play on turf.
His post on social media led to a very important clarification. Many people think it would be better to play on artificial turf than a frozen natural grass field in the winter. Eluemunor says that is not the case.
“Turf vs Grass in December is no debate! Doesn’t matter how cold it gets grass will always feel better. I’ve Played in Green Bay in early December and it still felt a million times better than turf anytime. Turf will never be the answer”
In fact, he would rather play on a chewed up grass field after a full season of games in inclement weather than on turf.
“Tbh any grass is better than turf”
The numbers back him up. Even though the NFL continues to claim that artificial turf is just as safe as natural grass, independent data found that injuries are ~16% more likely to occur on artificial turf compared to grass.
And yet,...
