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Back Page AstroTurf still making NFL a field of screams
By Bob Harris, Special to CNNSI.com The NFL takes a great deal of pride in the wide-ranging use of technology by its coaches, players, trainers, equipment manufacturers, stadium builders and even by fans in their homes. As Denver Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan once said, "In every business, company and corporation, people are trying to get the edge with technology today. Football is no different." Whether it's the use of non-linear video editing equipment, encrypted coach to quarterback radio transmitters, pulsating pain-relief appliances run by micro-processors or the ability to provide fans access to games via satellite and the Internet, the NFL has positioned itself on the cutting edge of new and emerging technologies like no other professional sports league in history. Well. ... Except when it comes to player safety. You see, I've got a problem with the NFL's reluctance to dump the nearly 40-year old technology that's still used on the vast majority of the league's artificial playing surfaces. I'm talking about AstroTurf. That's right. ... The ol' carpeted concrete, which subjects players to a variety of hardships ranging from constant and painful rug burns to career-ending knee injuries. According to those forced to ply their trade on it, AstroTurf shortens careers. Players worry about turf toe, turf burn and foot-lock -- when the knee joint gives because the foot won't slide. A survey conducted by the NFLPA in 1996 revealed that 86.7% of players disliked playing on artificial turf and that 93.4% of players believed artificial turf was more likely to contribute to injury. But the National Football League claims the serious scientific studies -- including a major work by Dr. James Nicholas, team physician for the NFL New York Jets, who found after looking at 26 years of team data that there were no significant differences in injury rates between AstroTurf and grass -- have been inconclusive. Blah blah blah. ... Hey. ... It doesn't take a 26-year scientific study to understand the simple theory at work here: The harder the surface, the more it hurts when you come into contact with it. And AstroTurf is as hard as a sidewalk. It's hard to understand the league's position now that next generation artificial surfaces have rendered AstroTurf obsolete. In fact, it's even harder still to imagine an enterprise as large and successful as the NFL allowing even one more game to take place on those old-fashioned fields of seams and screams. What do I mean by next generation artificial surfaces? Well. ... Synthetic grass comes to mind immediately. Whether it's FieldTurf, with its soft base of ground up Nike tennis shoes and sand, or the more expensive NexTurf, with its even softer 100 percent recycled rubber base, synthetic grass is much more forgiving than AstroTurf, which represented the state-of-the-art back in 1965. The Seattle Seahawks became the first NFL team to play on FieldTurf after it was installed in Husky Stadium before the 2000 season. And when the NFLPA released its annual survey at this year's Super Bowl, players ranked the Seahawks' surface 12th best among the league's 30 playing surfaces -- the highest ranking of all the league's artificial surfaces. Husky Stadium is currently the only NFL playing field with FieldTurf. If you're looking for individual testimonials, here you have 'em: "The surface is really good. It's when you get off of it you feel better. There's a lot less stress on your joints. There's really no downside to it except that there is a little sand and rubber that flies around. I had a problem when it got in my eyes. Other than that, I'd have to say I'm totally in favor of it." -- St. Louis RB Marshall Faulk "That grass was incredible -- the best field I ever played on. It's better than grass. No ruts. That stuff should be in every stadium -- indoor or outdoor." -- Denver Broncos WR Rod Smith "I think it's the best surface. You are going to find little black stuff on your mouth piece, and in your eye and your ear, but it's a small price to pay for no turf burns. Your back and hips don't hurt after a game from pounding on a hard surface." -- Seattle Seahawks LB Chad Brown "I love FieldTurf; it's better then grass. It really makes a difference on how [we] feel Monday and Tuesday afterwards." -- Arizona Cardinals OG Pete Kendall "The traction is real good. ... I think it's better on your knees, ankles and joints. I know I'd rather play on that than the regular artificial turf. When they said there was going to be no turf burns, we were like, 'Yeah, right'. They had us go sliding and diving on it, and we didn't get the burns." -- Oakland Raiders DB Eric Johnson "It seems to me that there is a little less wear and tear on their body compared to most synthetic surfaces. It's a softer feel that way; it's very much like grass. The first impressions are good ones; now we have to see over the course of the season how it holds up." -- Seattle Seahawks Head Coach/GM Mike Holmgren "The players love that stuff. It's even more friendly than regular grass. It's really forgiving for the players, in the joints. So, they like it." -- St. Louis Rams Head Coach Mike Martz The Colts traveled to Seattle to take on the Seahawks in a preseason game last summer and Indianapolis wide receiver Jerome Pathon, who played his college football at Washington -- before the switch from AstroTurf to FieldTurf -- took a nasty spill, hitting his head. Pathon bounced up and walked away without difficulty, telling friends later, "If I had landed like that on the old turf. I don't know what would have happened to me." Which brings up another undeniable advantage synthetic grass has over AstroTurf. Let's assume Pathon had indeed landed on Husky Stadium's old AstroTurf surface. Even if he somehow managed to avoid any broken bones or serious bruises when his body crashed to the ground, you can bet your last nickel he would have left behind significant amounts of any exposed skin he might have drug across the unforgiving AstroTurf, which many players compare to sandpaper laid over asphalt. Fortunately, the oil base in the hybrid synthetic fibers naturally coat each blade of FieldTurf grass, making it smooth and soft on the skin. Athletes can comfortably slide on the turf, without suffering the painful “turf-burn” injuries that have become all too common in recent years. "There has been a drastic reduction in turf burns," Nebraska football trainer Donk Ostergard said one year after the Cornhuskers made the switch to FieldTurf. "The blades aren't compact like on AstroTurf. The old AstroTurf was like bristles on a brush. Last year in fall camp we had four turf burns. On our old field, we'd have four a day." All of which explains why the Seahawks recently announced that their brand new, super-deluxe, cutting edge, state-of-the-art, $430 million outdoor football stadium, which will be ready for the 2002 season, will have FieldTurf instead of grass. So what about the rest of the league? C'mon. ... The NFL has become one of the most popular and profitable sports leagues ever primarily because it boasts one of the most uniquely talented, highly-paid, hard-to-replace work forces known to man. That being the case, why on earth do they continue to put that work force at risk by sending it out to do battle on inferior playing surfaces? You tell me and we'll both know. ... Bob Harris is Editor and Webmaster of the TFL Report and Senior Editor for Fantasy Sports Publications.
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