Williams and Kupp Champion the NFL’s Transition to Natural Grass Surfaces

The NFLPA’s public relations campaign for grass fields should concentrate less on broadly shaming owners into adopting better surfaces and more on prompting specific teams to make the switch. As discussed previously, this initiative should begin with the Seahawks, who are currently undergoing a change in ownership.

On Tuesday, two Seattle veterans presented their arguments for natural grass during training camp press conferences.

Defensive end Leonard Williams was asked whether the temporary grass installed at Lumen Field for the World Cup made him wish that a permanent natural surface would remain.

“For sure,” Williams told reporters. “I think the entire NFL felt that way. We obviously prefer grass; it creates less impact and is gentler on the body. I understand there are many complexities regarding installing grass in a stadium that I don’t fully grasp yet, but if it came down to a choice between grass and turf, we would obviously choose grass.”

Receiver Cooper Kupp was initially more concise. “That would be sweet,” he said, chuckling.

Why the laughter? “It would be awesome,” Kupp stated. “I’ve spoken out about this in the past. There are numerous moving parts, which I understand. There is an excellent crew that works out in that shed over there. They do a great job maintaining the practice field grass. You should ask them, ‘Hey, what would it look like?’ I am not well-versed in the science of turf management, but you have soccer teams playing on it and countless other events being hosted. I would hope that with the NFL’s resources, we can make it happen. There are people capable of making it happen. As players, we need to keep voicing what we want and what we believe is important, but eventually, I do believe it will get done.”

Seattle would be the ideal place to start.

“It makes a huge difference,” Kupp stated when discussing the contrast between natural grass and artificial turf. “I am aware of all the metrics and data suggesting differences in injury rates, but I don’t care about that. I know how I feel. Ask many players and they will echo the same sentiment. Regardless of whether injury rates change, I know how my body feels on turf compared to grass. You can ask coaches how their backs feel after standing on turf versus grass. Coaches face their own set of challenges, but it does make a difference…”

“It’s possible. I know it’s possible. This conversation needs to continue.”

Eventually, conversation must turn into action. This matter has evolved into a Collective Bargaining Agreement issue, meaning players will likely have to sacrifice something to secure grass on all fields. However, individual teams can still opt for grass over turf, much like the Bills have done with their new stadium.

Since the Seahawks are getting a new owner soon, why not launch a focused effort to convince Vinod Khosla to install a high-quality natural grass field that can be properly maintained and protected during the other events held at Lumen Field?

Talk is cheap, but grass fields are not. Players need to find a way to convince more owners to look past misleading injury data and focus instead on the overwhelming anecdotal evidence from those who play on the surfaces: they strongly prefer grass because of how their bodies feel after a game, compared to how they feel after playing on a surface that causes the immense forces they generate to ricochet back into their ankles, knees, and hips.

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