Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s claim that the surface at Ralph Wilson Stadium was to blame for Pittsburgh guard David DeCastro’s injury on Saturday night in Buffalo missed the mark in one important respect: Roethlisberger blamed FieldTurf, but the surface at Ralph Wilson Stadium is actually called A-Turf Titan.
FieldTurf is a brand name for a type of artificial surface that many NFL teams use, either in their stadiums or on their practice fields. A-Turf Titan is a different type of artificial surface that the Bills are alone among NFL teams in using at their home fields.
According to the NFL Record and Fact Book, Roethlisberger’s Steelers are among 16 teams that play their home games on grass. The others are the Browns, Texans, Jaguars, Chiefs, Dolphins, Raiders, Chargers, Titans, Cardinals, Panthers, Bears, Eagles, 49ers, Buccaneers and Redskins. Two other teams, the Broncos and Packers, use a blend of natural and synthetic called DD Grassmaster.
After grass, FieldTurf is the next most popular option: The Colts, Patriots, Jets, Giants, Falcons, Lions, Rams and Seahawks all use FieldTurf on their home fields.
In addition to the Bills’ use of A-Turf Titan, a few other types of artificial surface are used in NFL stadiums. The Ravens and Vikings use a surface called Sportexe Momentum, the Cowboys use Sportsfield Softtop and the Saints and Bengals use UBU Speed Series-S5-M.
Roethlisberger is one of many NFL players who have expressed concerns about the safety of NFL playing surfaces, and that’s an issue that the league and the union should continue studying. But if Roethlisberger has a problem with the surface at Ralph Wilson Stadium, his problem is with A-Turf Titan, not with FieldTurf.