The NFL Players Association recently sparked interest with some comments.
This came after a video popped up on X, showing a natural grass field being prepared at MetLife Stadium for the FIFA Club World Cup.
“Looks good,” the official NFLPA account mentioned, tagging it with “#Saferfields.”
There’s been ongoing debate among players regarding the artificial turf used by the Giants and Jets, with many citing higher injury rates attributed to that surface. This issue intensified in 2024 when Aaron Rodgers sustained an Achilles injury on it.
FIFA mandates that natural grass must be used, and MetLife Stadium is one of the sites for the upcoming Club World Cup in the U.S.
Lloyd Howell, the NFLPA’s executive director, shared that last year, 92% of players expressed a preference for grass fields.
“It’s quite simple,” Howell commented then. “92% of our union desires grass. It’s convincing. Our members want to play on grass,” he added.
Although Giants owner John Mara expressed willingness to have grass fields for other sports, he mentioned that it may not be feasible for football given the volume of events at the stadium.
“We aim to reach a point where experts can assure us that a safe, playable grass field is achievable in the latter part of the season,” Mara noted during an NFL owners meeting last year. “We aren’t there yet.”
He highlighted the challenge of maintaining the field with two teams and numerous events, mentioning, “Last season, after some rain in the first game, I can’t imagine how the grass field would have held up the next day.”
Jets owner Woody Johnson mentioned that he and Mara often discuss the possibility of switching to grass for football.
MetLife Stadium will also host games for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, including the finals, necessitating the use of a grass field next summer.
“That type of grass used for soccer just isn’t suitable for football,” Mara remarked previously. “They focus on how the ball reacts, whereas for football, it’s a different ball game. It’s only temporary grass, which works well in June and July. But regardless of how frequently it’s replaced, when we tried this from ’99 to ’01, the grass didn’t look good in December and January. I think we’ll get there someday, but we aren’t at that point yet.”
