Eli Manning has veered from the chorus on the turf vs. grass debate.
After Aaron Rodgers went down with a devastating Achilles injury just four snaps into his Jets’ starting quarterback tenure, there have been loud cries for the NFL to mandate grass instead of turf at all of its stadiums.
Manning, who played on the MetLife Stadium turf as quarterback of the Giants, zagged to the other side.
“I think the turf, it gives you a reliable field all the time,” Manning told Front Office Sports.
“The Giants played in that same stadium in a big rain storm. If you played that game and you had to play another game on Monday night on the same field, it would be ripped up and muddy and wet and all messed up anyways. So I think it eliminates that.
“You always have a clean surface. … The turf didn’t have a factor in that injury.”
When Rodgers got hurt, a number of NFL players, including his teammates Randall Cobb and D.J. Reed, as well as former teammate David Bakhtiari, slammed the league for its use of turf.
“We wanted the NFL to protect the players with grass fields, but the NFL is more worried about making money,” Cobb said.
“Profit over people, it’s always been the case. I’ve never been a fan of turf. That’s my stance.”
Lloyd Howell, the new NFLPA Executive Director, also issued a scathing statement.
“Moving all stadium fields to high-quality natural grass surfaces is the easiest decision the NFL can make,” Howell said.
“The players overwhelmingly prefer it and the data is clear that grass is simply safer than artificial turf. It is an issue that has been near the top of the players’ list during my team visits and one I have raised with the NFL.
“While we know there is an investment to making this change, there is a bigger cost to everyone in our business if we keep losing our best players to unnecessary injuries. It makes no sense that stadiums can flip over to superior grass surfaces when the World Cup comes, or soccer clubs come to visit for exhibition games in the summer, but inferior artificial surfaces are acceptable for our own players. This is worth the investment and simply needs to change now.”
It’s worth noting that the turf at MetLife Stadium was replaced earlier this year and upgraded with an improved synthetic.
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