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The topic of player safety or lack thereof has been a hot-button issue for the NFL this year and while most of it has centered around concussions and hits to the head or next area, safer field conditions for the players has been just as important of a cause.
The age-old debate of grass vs. turf has been going on for decades but as more studies have been done and new data has been collected, it is clear that grass is a much safer surface to play on and turf is a danger to player safety.
Baltimore Ravens veteran defensive end Calais Campbell took to Twitter to voice his concerns. The 2019 recipient of the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award demands that the NFL takes action citing that players are at a higher risk of suffering non-contact injuries on slit film turf which seven teams in the league have on the fields in their home stadiums.
Teams that play home games on Slit Film Turf:
Giants, Jets, Lions, Vikings, Saints, Colts, Bengals
Data shows Slit Film Turf puts players at a higher risk of non contact injuries
The fields can be changed and ready for play in days
This is a non brainer! @NFL Make it happen
There have already been several players that have gone down with season-ending injuries while playing on these dangerous surfaces including two of Campbell’s teammates in two-time Pro Bowl corner Kyle Fuller and offensive tackle Ja’Wuan James. Both players went down in the team’s season-opening win over the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium where slit film turf is used and they were lost for the remainder of the year with lower extremity injuries.
On the same field two weeks later, the New York Giants lost their top wide receiver, Sterling Shepard, on that very same field when he went down to the turf clutching his knee after not even being touched while running a route downfield. Turns out the seven-year suffered a torn ACL a year suffering a ruptured Achilles in a home game and will end the season on injured reserve in back-to-back seasons.
MetLife Stadium turf strikes again…It needs to go!!! 🙏 out to Sterling Shepard.
Campbell believes that until something is done, the unfortunate and inevitable injuries will continue to mount for players on both the home and visiting teams in the stadiums where turf is still being played on.
By allowing teams to continue using slit film turf, about 10 more players will go down with a completely avoidable, non-contact injury throughout the rest of this season. To know something is unsafe and not change it is unacceptable. #SaferFields
Other NFL Players Sound Off on Turf Concerns
Campbell isn’t the only player that feels the same way as others echoed similar sentiments on Twitter as well. Detroit Lions safety Tracey Walker is currently on the team’s injured reserve after he suffered a season-ending injury in Week 3 when his team didn’t just lose to their division rivals but lost him for the remainder of the year.
@CalaisCampbell @NFL It’s crazy because I tore my Achilles on Minnesota field. They got to do something ASAP!!
His Lions’ teammate, inside linebacker Jason Cabinda, sounded off on the topic as well, expressing that while everyone wants the players to be on the field, the conditions that many of them are forced to play on remain a danger to their health and a threat to their careers.
We want to be on the field, coaches want us on the field, and so do the fans. Turf is taking too many guys out of the game. #SaferFields
The #SaferFields movement is one that has some of the game’s biggest stars speaking out in support including Superbowl 56 MVP Cooper Kupp of the Los Angeles Rams, two-time Pro Bowl defensive end Nick Bosa of the San Fransico 49ers, and All-Pro offensive tackle David Bakhtiari of the Green Bay Packers.
I believe that we — and all teams — should be playing on grass.
This is an age-old issue, and I believe the time to address the problem is now!
Let’s have the conversation.
Nfl says they care about player safety yet they can’t put us on a natural surface #saferfields
It’s crazy. When European soccer clubs come here to play, the stadiums quickly convert from turf to grass. WHY NOT FOR ITS OWN PLAYERS?!? There’s no excuse league wide; EVEN Green Bay can have/grow grass for the season! #SaferFields
In the most recent taping of the ‘New Heights’ podcast that he records with his older brother, Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce said that he’d “rather practice in sleet, snow, thunderstorm with a chance of getting struck by lightning than run inside on the turf”.
J.K. Dobbins Sets Record Straight About Repaired Knee
The last game that the Ravens’ third-year running back played in came in the team’s Week 6 road loss to the Giants where he didn’t finish the game because his surgically repaired knee tightened up. Since then, he was placed on injured reserve after undergoing surgery to remove some scar tissue from that knee that head coach John Harbaugh said was a “smashing success”.
Thankfully, it wasn’t season-ending surgery and he is expected to be back at some point. In a recent appearance on local CBS station WJZ’s ‘Purple Playbook’, he clarified exactly what the procedure was and the thought process that went into it.
“I’d rather be all the way 100% going into the playoffs, towards the end of the year so I can really do what I need to do to help the team win.”
@Jkdobbins22 shuts down rumors he reinjured his knee #Ravens #RavensFlock @wjz @MarkWJZ more here: t.co/c91bxRDr6R
“I didn’t get reinjured. I didn’t hurt myself or anything,” Dobbins said. “I just didn’t feel like myself. We looked at it and there was some stuff in my knee that was making me not feel like myself. It wasn’t bad, I could have still played but I’d rather be 100 percent going into the playoffs towards the end of the year so I could really do what I really need to do to help the team win.”
The Ravens can take their time with Dobbins because unlike the start of the season when their rushing attack struggled to gain any traction outside of Lamar Jackson’s contributions, the other running backs on the roster are playing well.
Veteran Kenyan Drake has stepped up in a big way needed this season since gaining his barrings and getting more comfortable in the offense. The team is also expected to get fifth-year pro Gus Edwards back coming off their bye when they host the Carolina Panthers in Week 11.
“So now this time around I’m like, ‘All right, I get what’s going on.’ So now whenever I come back, it’ll be me – the full me,” Dobbins said.
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Ravens’ Calais Campbell Calls Out NFL in Viral Tweet