LAS VEGAS — As NFL Players Association executive director Lloyd Howell visited the league’s 32 organizations throughout the 2023 regular season, he listened to players’ concerns on a wide variety of issues. For a union with roughly 2,000 members, finding consensus to address a given issue can be difficult.
Howell quickly understood what everyone agreed on: the players’ desire to play on grass fields rather than artificial turf.
The subject — already relevant before Super Bowl 58 like the San Francisco 49ers expressed their concerns ahead of their match against the The Kansas City Chiefs — was the main theme of Howell’s first public appearance as union leader since being appointed to the post over the summer.
“There’s no question our union wants to have working conditions where they can play on grass,” Howell said Wednesday.
An NFLPA survey of 1,700 people found that 92 percent of players said they would rather play on premium turf than synthetic turf. Six percent were indifferent, according to the survey.
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For Howell, the issue of synthetic or non-synthetic turf goes beyond the aesthetics of the game. It’s a workplace issue. Playing on a synthetic field can cut a player’s career by two or three seasons, he said.
“It’s important to our union,” Howell said. “It’s money for them and their families and the trajectory of their lives. It makes a difference in the kind of chronic pain they’re going to have to endure for the rest of their lives.”
NFLPA President JC Tretter, a former offensive lineman, said the injury data can be broken down a few ways. In two of the last three seasons, the rate of injuries on turf has declined and gotten closer to the rate at which soft tissue and lower-body injuries occur on turf.
“In terms of narrative, when you put this information out there, people think grass has become safer,” Tretter said.
Tretter added that’s because grass saw its highest injury rate in a decade in 2023. But it’s worth noting, he said, that it’s still lower than turf.
Los Angeles Chargers back Austin Ekeler He said grass burns can last for weeks. He also noticed a difference in the way his body bounces on concrete versus grass. Grass feels “sticky.” Grass is more pliable.
“It’s not like I’m like, ‘Oh my God, I played on a turf field,’ and I’m in a lot of pain the next day,” Ekeler said. “But it’s little accumulations of those little things that make it less enjoyable.”
In the case of Niners’ practice field problemsExperts have advised the union that the softer surface could endanger San Francisco players on game day. Tretter said a layer of plastic between the turf and the grass is usually put in place, but for some reason it wasn’t in this case.
“Playable” is not the same as “high quality,” Tretter said. “That’s about the minimum you can go to to say it’s OK. So we can’t talk out of both sides of our mouths.”
Last year the grass pitch was rolled for Super Bowl 57 — that the NFL touted before the Chiefs’ game against the Philadelphia Eagles — did not resist, as players slipped throughout the match.
Turf field maintenance and quality are important metrics for comparing artificial turf and grass, Howell said. The union is currently working on creating another test to set standards for playing surfaces, Tretter said. Currently, the Clegg Test (official name: Clegg Impact Tester) is the only one that currently exists. Ideally, the new test would measure performance and safety.
“It doesn’t tell you much,” Tretter said of the Clegg test. “It just tells you how hard the ground is. It’s not a safety measure.”
“It’s a 72? Great, what does that mean?”
Tretter highlighted players’ complaints at the Carolina Panthers“home stadium during a Christmas Eve match in December. The turf was deemed too hard and the match went ahead as scheduled.
This week, FIFA revealed that Grass will be rolled in NFL stadiums who will use grass for the 2026 Men’s World Cup.
“Another sport has figured out a way to put a grass field on its players,” Howell said. “And that’s all we ask.”
“It’s really basic. It’s not rocket science.”
Lloyd said that because of the different perspectives of owners and the circumstances of each venue (climate, location, usage), there is no uniform answer for all 32 clubs. Jacksonville Jaguars kicker Brandon McManus The owners and the union agree on wanting to keep the best players on the field.
“Anything we can do to keep the best players (active) is best for business,” he said.
Owners spend a lot of money on player salaries every year, McManus added.
“If they’re not putting their money into the field, well, let’s look at why they’re not putting their money into the field,” McManus said.
