#SaferNFLFields
- Kayla Bryson
- Jan 4, 2023
- 3 min read
NFL Player's Safety Concerns on the Field
Players in the NFL speak on the playing conditions regarding the differences in turf across the league.
#SaferFields. That is the hashtag you will see across social media, with posts from NFL players speaking out on their concerns on the conditions of the fields throughout the league. The types of playing surfaces (turf vs grass) are not consistent across all NFL stadiums. Among monofilament, slit film, and dual fiber, slit film has statistically higher in-game injury rates compared to the others (NFLPA, 2022). The National Football League's Players Association (NFLPA) reports that 7 teams currently use slit film in their stadiums including the New York Giants, New York Jets, Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings, New Orleans Saints, Indianapolis Colts, and Cincinnati Bengals. Players across the league have shared their voices publicly with the demand to play on natural grass, rather than synthetic surfaces such as turf in order to reduce the rates of injuries. There is a lower amount of year-round maintenance required with turf than natural grass, which is the positive to its use at the professional level. However, the risk turf has presented to the players' safety and success, is it worth the NFL making major renovations to their stadiums and listening to their players requests for safe working conditions?
As professional athletes, their working conditions dictate the quality of performance executed on the field and the amount of playing time received. Like any other profession, when the working conditions are compromised, the mental and physical well-being of the individual is not at an adequate level to meet their job requirements. If the expectation is for NFL players to be standouts on the field and sacrifice their bodies each week for the benefit of the spectators and fans, then shouldn't there be every precaution in place to make them the healthiest overall? The level of equity across the league in regards to quality of equipment and resources is not balanced and there seems to be a turning point arriving soon for the players to be dictating what they want out of the league.
The current standards that the NFL has for their fields only evaluates the maintenance condition of the surface and surface hardness, which has been in place for more than 13 years. However, there are researchers in collaboration with the NFL who have found that the current surfaces are clearly not up to the safety standards that they should be. The NFLPA wrote a letter to the NFL in November 2022 demanding for the immediate removal of the slit-film synthetic fields and to put a ban on them for future seasons, both in stadiums and practice fields. There have been refusals from the league for both an immediate and future change to take away slit film from their fields. A number of players are spreading their opinions throughout social media, but on Twitter you will find the following quote shared by athletes such as Dalton Schultz (TE), Charley Hughlett (LS), and Jonathan Feliciano (C):
We know the data--our union and the league agree that we should eliminate slit film turf. But the NFL isn't willing to mandate this change, so we as players are going to keep talking about the issue until it changes.
There is a concern that the lack of decision making from the NFL is going to result in some drastic repercussions. The previous and current injuries sustained by players on the synthetic turf surfaces are clearly are not enough to be accounted for as the NFL has not made a decision for the betterment of their athletes. In the conclusion of an article from the NFLPA, the players themselves have a simple message for the NFL, "stop the lip service, stop with the media spin, stop pretending you care." They continue on with if the league actually does care, then intentional steps need to be taken to fix the issues the union has identified and that the league agrees with.
With the end of the regular NFL season emerging and the astonishing season-ending injuries being sustained by players, there is hope that those with the power to make the necessary changes will initiate these in the off-season. Until those changes come, the safety and well-being of the players is a number one concern while they continue on with the rest of their season and playing careers.
Tretter, JC. (2022). NFL Player health and safety lies beneath the surface. National Football Player's Association (NFLPA). Retrieved from https://nflpa.com/posts/nfl-player-health-safety-lies-beneath-the-surface
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