“NFL looking for ‘new ideas’ for playing surfaces”. The New England Patriots play on grass at Gillette Stadium.
NFL playing surfaces are a hot topic. When Aaron Rodgers suffered a torn ACL in Week 1, the artificial turf versus turf debate heated up.
This week, the league announced a crowdsourced challenge aimed at accelerating innovations that could help make playing surfaces more consistent and safer for players.
NFL players continue to advocate for turf fields due to the link to non-contact lower body injuries on artificial turf. New NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell released a statement in September saying all NFL stadiums must have natural turf.
Currently, 14 out of 32 teams do not play on real grass. The Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers use a combination of turf and grass.
The league is calling for proposals on how it can improve its playing surfaces…and offering a reward.
According to the NFL: “The “HealthTECH Challenge I” is open to applications from companies and new businesses outside of the surfaces industry, including representatives from academic institutions, design houses and other entities specializing in engineering, advanced manufacturing and materials science. “
“The challenge will provide up to $100,000 to participants with ideas that will further improve the safety and uniformity of playing surfaces. Individuals or groups who submit selected projects for funding will have the opportunity to work with a expert support team to further develop their project. concept and plan to create a finished product.
The Patriots play at Gillette Stadium, which moved from grass to turf in 2006. New England upgraded the turf in 2017 and the new surface features FieldTurf’s latest monofilament technology. FieldTurf is used in five NFL playing fields: New England, Seattle, Atlanta, Detroit and Indianapolis.
THE 2 to 8 Patriots are on leave while they ruminate Week 10 loss to the Indianapolis Colts in which coach Bill Belichick benched quarterback Mac Jones. Rumors are swirling about Belichick’s job security as a November 26 game looms against the New York Giants.
