Why 49ers Players, Coaches Prefer Grass Fields Over Turf
Oct 12, 2022, 4:30 PM
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - OCTOBER 09: Christian McCaffrey #22 of the Carolina Panthers gets tackled by Dre Greenlaw #57 of the San Francisco 49ers in the fourth quarter at Bank of America Stadium on October 09, 2022 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Eakin Howard/Getty Images)
(Photo by Eakin Howard/Getty Images)
It’s been a tumultuous start to the season for the San Francisco 49ers. Not in terms of performance, they’re riding high on a two-game win streak thanks to a dominant performance Week 5 against the Carolina Panthers, 37-15.
It’s more in terms of injuries. The worst was cornerback Emmanuel Moseley, tearing his ACL in the closing minutes of Week 5’s beatdown in Charlotte.
In total, three starters left the game early Sunday due to injuries: Safety Jimmie Ward (hand), defensive end Nick Bosa (groin), and kicker Robbie Gould (knee). Following the game, more injuries were announced as DE Samson Ebukam (Achilles) and left guard Aaron Banks (knee) landed on the injury report Wednesday.
While the 49ers have been injury-prone the last few years, everyone has a culprit for this week’s laundry list: The turf field in Carolina.
“Yeah those two [Banks and Ebukam], it’s just tendinitis from the turf, they’re still sore from it,” 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan explained Wednesday before practice.
San Francisco and players across the league have complained of the difference in playing surfaces in the NFL and how that can impact their health, with approximately 50% of the league using artificial turf. After Sunday’s game, 49ers tight end George Kittle spoke out on the issue, calling the NFL to sympathize with their athletes by comparing playing surfaces across sports.
After another injury-filled game on turf, George Kittle says he doesn’t understand why NFL playing surfaces aren’t consistent
— KNBR (@KNBR) October 10, 2022
“The thing that just confuses me is if you’re not going to mandate grass, then why aren’t turf fields the exact same turf so guys get used to playing on the same turf everywhere? But every field has a different turf,” 49ers tight end George Kittle said in the locker room postgame. “And so you’re playing on a different surface. NBA guys don’t play on different wood, what are we doing? Hockey guys don’t play on different ices all the time. It’s ice. So I just wish we played on a surface that was similar every single week in, week out so your body won’t just be dealing with different, crappy turf.”
Thankfully the 49ers play on real grass at Levi’s Stadium, a much easier surface to play on given the resistance between the two surfaces. Turf fields cause more injuries due to the increased likelihood of cleats getting caught or players landing awkwardly on an artificial surface. Whereas with grass fields, players are less likely to get hurt due to the softness and naturalism of real sod.
“I know how much everyone prefers grass and I think George said it best yesterday,” Shanahan contributed to the ongoing debate Monday. “We have concerts in our stadium all the time. I think Elton John played there this weekend. And I just love that we always get grass and then it’s always new and they always re-sod it and I know you have to do some extra stuff to get that done, but I can’t tell you how big of a difference it makes for us. I’m glad that we don’t have to deal with that stuff in our stadium.”
An example of the stuff they’d have to deal with: New York Giants wide receiver Sterling Shepard.
Video of Sterling Shepard’s season ending injury pic.twitter.com/1bpMUIBlbr
— Jordan 🏈 (@jasrifootball) September 28, 2022
Shepard suffered a torn ACL Week 3 against the Dallas Cowboys at MetLife Stadium, their own stadium. In the closing moments of the game, Shepard went out for a route, slowing to a jog before grabbing his left knee in agony. A non-contact injury that had the clear makings of an ACL tear right in front of our eyes.
The veteran wideout was carted to the locker room and placed on season-ending IR a few days later.
Speaking to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, Shepard shared that he thought he suffered the injury a few plays prior, instead shaking it off as if nothing happened. Going out for a route one more time did the trick, a full ACL tear that ended his 2022 season.
“It was really weird. I think I actually partially tore it probably like two plays before that,” Shepard said after the injury. “I kind of got up, and my knee did something funny. I was like, ‘Forget about it, and keep on pushing.’ And the next play I was literally just jogging, and I’m sure you guys saw it. It just slid on me and popped.”
MetLife has been a problem in the past, causing injuries for the 49ers left and right during Week 2 of the 2022 season. Giants players themselves have spoken out against the artificial surface, stating natural grass is much more “forgiving” on athletes.
“I’ve heard stuff about that,” Shepard continued. “I know they tested it a couple of years back and said it was fine. I mean, I love playing on grass. I know a lot of my teammates, we all love playing on grass. It’s just a little bit more forgiving than turf is. At times, your foot can get stuck in the turf. I think all around, it’s better on bodies to play on grass.”
With no NFL mandate on same playing surfaces league-wide, expect more discussion to come in the offseason amongst the league’s Competition Committee.
Maybe they can discuss it during their roughing-the-passer meeting, just a thought.
