Late in the fall season, senior running back Nathan Florio of Branford high school laced up his cleats and ran out to the football field every week. Sometimes the ground beneath him is real grass, but other times it’s artificial turf. Florio nearly ended his season multiple times when trying to make a cut, which is when a player digs their cleat into the ground hard allowing them to change directions immediately and maintain the speed at which they were going.
“It’s hard to put your foot in the ground and kind of keep it there,” Florio said. “If you put your foot down and keep your balance underneath you then you’ll be able to cut, but I kept my foot way too far out a couple times.”
When playing on artificial turf, football players not only have to be aware of defenders punching the ball loose from their hands, but also the placement of their feet on the tricky surface. In Florio’s case, instead of keeping his weight going forward on wet turf, he used a wider stance which left his cleat more susceptible to slipping away from him, causing injuries.
What is Artificial Turf?
Artificial turf has gone through many changes since being introduced in football in 1969. The University of Pennsylvania’s Franklin Field, then home of the Philadelphia Eagles, switched from grass to AstroTurf. It was given the name AstroTurf because the first team to use turf was the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball in a game against the Philadelphia Phillies in 1966. AstroTurf started out as a basic carpet and a pad. When Quinnipiac University professor Richard Hanely, who also played collegiate football for the University of New Haven, initially saw the AstroTurf, he was baffled at the thought of teams playing on the surface.
“I couldn’t believe they played football on it,” Hanley said. “It seemed to be like they were playing on concrete because there was no give to it. That first iteration of AstroTurf was awful.”
Why was it developed?
Artificial turf fields are more practical to use than natural grass because of the simplicity in maintenance and upkeep of the fields. Natural grass fields are influenced by every weather condition and can be easily deformed while the artificial turf remains the same.
“I think the secret to the science of a natural turf field is to make it consistent week to week or game to game,” Hanley said. “Before the development of artificial turf they were playing in mud. How can you be your best when you’re playing in mud? When you have a nice clean field, you can always play at your optimal level of performance and have confidence that you’re not going to step in a divot or fall over a clump.”
Schools are almost forced to adopt an artificial turf field because of the geography around it. The Branford high school football field switched from natural grass to artificial turf in the 1990s. Before then, the river stemming from Branford Harbor caused problems when storms came rolling through.
“We used to have a grass field and any time it rained, that river flooded the entire thing,” Branford Hornets head coach John Limone said following a win on a rainy night. “The field would be a mess, so we’ve had turf for a long time here.”
Another factor as to why turf is used more often is because it’s more cost efficient. In high schools, middle schools and even colleges, there is constant and continuous maintenance that comes along with a grass field because multiple teams play and practice on it. This leads to the switch because while turf fields do need maintaining, it requires less attention and cost.
Several improvements to artificial turf were made over the decades. The undersurface was eventually replaced by silica-sand infill products, which provided a smoother base to the surface, but it was not until the 1990s when the biggest advancement came. The silica-sand was replaced with crumb rubber, the tiny black beads that get all over a player when they slide on it. These materials allow turf to withstand extensive use and require a lesser amount of upkeep following games or rains.
The NFL has two hybrid fields that have plastic grass woven into a natural grass surface. Players get the traction of an artificial turf field with the cushion of a natural grass field. These fields belong to the Green Bay Packers and the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles hybrid field ranks 13th (4.53) and the Packers hybrid ranks 22nd (4.31) in player injuries per game according to a study from 2017-2022 by Sports Info Solutions.
More Safety Issues
High school players are not the only ones dealing with the ongoing debate over the safety of a natural grass field versus an artificial turf field. On opening night of the 2023-2024 NFL season, one of the most anticipated player debuts was set for action. Four-time MVP and future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers signed with the New York Jets, giving fans high hopes for the season ahead. Then, just four plays in, the fans’ hopes were torn as Rodgers sat back down on the turf after taking a sack.
“Protection breaks down and time runs out, down goes Rodgers and the sack for Leonard Floyd,” ESPN sportscaster Joe Buck said as the play ran dead. “A loss of 10 on the play and hopefully, the Jets are thinking that’s the only loss on that play.”
Perhaps what reignited the debate on whether or not natural grass fields are safer than artificial turf fields, one cannot deny the statistics behind the argument. Many players in the NFL have sustained season ending injuries on turf fields due to its conditions. Players such as Cleveland Browns running back Nick Chubb and Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Mike Williams. Chubb tore his MCL and meniscus, and Williams suffered a knee injury, sidelining the two stars for the remainder of the 2023-2024 season. In the NFL, as of Dec. 5, 2023, there are 368 players ruled out due to injury or other reasons.
The graphic shows that over 60% of the injuries across the NFL are related to the lower body, ranging from tweaked ankles to a torn Achilles tendon, according to covers.com that shows all player designations and injuries. Certified physical therapist Nicholas Ferraro explained the different ways each playing surface can impact player injuries and why lower-body injuries make up the majority.
“So if you plant your foot in something that’s softer, like dirt or grass, the surface kind of deforms a little bit more and there’s less actual torque and kind of force going through the ligaments in the joint,” Ferraro said. “Whereas on a harder surface, hypothetically turf, when you plant, the ground doesn’t deform the same way. That force has to go somewhere, so it’s going to go through your leg.”
Ferraro added that because turf does not deform like grass does, the player’s cleat has the capability of getting stuck in the turf preventing them from making a cut and injuring themselves in the process, as their body would be moving one way and their leg in another.
Augie Contressa, current football coach at Commack High School and formerly with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers organization, has played on many different fields throughout his career as a football player, at the running back, safety and linebacker positions. However, similarly to what Ferraro explained, he enjoys playing on one surface more than the other because of its familiarity.
“With the NFL fields or college fields that are grass, I do like playing on those better because it’s a little softer when you land,” Contressa said. “You have a better feel with the ground and I had a better foot-to-ground connection.”
According to a study done by the National Football League’s Player Association (NFLPA), based on injuries sustained from 2012 to 2018, there was a 28% higher chance of sustaining an extreme lower body injury on artificial turf than on natural surfaces, such as grass. Additionally, players have a 32% higher rate of knee injuries as well as a 69% higher rate of foot/ankle injuries on turf as compared to grass.
In a tweet, before the app was known as “X”, Minnesota Vikings and professional football reporter Kevin Seifert showed data collected by the NFL and NFLPA illustrating the rate of injury on synthetic turf compared to natural surfaces such as grass from 2018-2021. From 2018-2022 the rates were significantly different; statistically, playing on turf saw more injuries. However they were almost equivalent in 2021.
Other Safety Issues
The playing field isn’t the only factor to consider when a player goes down with an injury. According to Ferraro, the differing positions will cause different strains on the body as compared to other positions. For example, wide receivers are running more often than offensive linemen so the effect of cutting on turf pertains more to them, whereas an offensive linemen is not doing a lot of running, but has to stand their ground against strong defensive lineman.
“You have these freaks of nature, guys like Myles Garrett running at you and Joey Bosa running into Saquon Barkley,” Ferraro said. “Until you start giving these guys artificial tendons that are super human, I just don’t know what you’d be able to do.”
Natural grass fields may be softer than an artificial turf field, but when the season goes into the winter months, the grass fields harden to make a concrete-like surface. Hanley played football collegiately for the University of New Haven and explained his experience on the natural grass fields when the leaves were on the ground.
“We played late into November and there would be some freezing weather overnight and the field would freeze,” Hanley said. “So you’d be practicing or playing on frozen clumps and the clumps would just rip up your skin.”
Once Hanley was out of the cold and in the warmth of the indoors, it would not be the only thing he and his teammates began feeling when back in the locker room.
“Speaking metaphorically, your skin kind of melts and you start to feel those scrapes and the blood and whatnot and you start to go, ‘Oh shit.’”
Artificial turf has come a long way from being a concrete-like pad to the softer crumb rubber that’s seen in today’s stadiums. Many people say that the NFL should continue to make advancements to the turf in that different materials would get the softer feel of a natural grass field, but have the consistency of an artificial turf field. Many people believe that the hybrid fields in Green Bay and Philadelphia are a good start and the NFL should start working towards attracting more teams to adopt a hybrid field.
One thing is for certain in the NFL; injuries will never go away. When you have defensive ends and linebackers weighing 250 pounds running full speed at a 185 pound running back, there’s a good chance an injury may occur. Turf statistically may not be the safest surface of play, but it’s a more practical one when it comes to maintenance and weather resistance. Injuries are a multifactorial event that requires attention to all aspects of the game rather than singling out the field of play.