Over the past few seasons, several players have spoken out against the NFL for the league’s use of artificial turf, indicating that they believe natural grass is a safer playing surface. And now, one NFL star is giving a pretty shocking testimony about just how harmful
Former NFL linebacker Lorenzo Alexander, who played played 15 seasons in the league, spoke to Outkick about the debate between artificial turf and natural grass. He made it very clear that he much preferred playing on natural grass. He even went as far as to suggest that the turf is so hard compared to natural grass that landing on it feels like “car crashes.”
“It’s significant. … I can tell you that the way I felt when I played on turf was a lot different [than on grass]. I feel like I went through twice the car crashes when I was hitting the guy and then hitting the hard surface,” Alexander told OutKick Thursday. “You always feel better after getting off the [natural] grass [compared to artificial turf].”
It’s clear to Alexander which playing surface is better and safer for the players, but it’s also clear which one is financially beneficial for the NFL owners.
“With these stadiums, they’re always thinking about, ‘How can we make more money, how can we get more events at our venue?’ So, that’s probably why they shifted to artificial turf because it’s easier to contain, and the consistency is better than grass. So, hopefully we can figure out what’s the best way to move forward … because [real grass] is definitely better for the longevity of the player.”
It certainly sounds like natural grass is the safer playing surface. We’ll see if the NFL ever makes a change.
