Ben Roethlisberger: Real grass is the safest surface for football

Posted by Michael David Smith on August 28, 2012, 5:01 PM EDT
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Ben Roethlisberger has taken to his personal website to revise and extend his remarks about the turf at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

Roethlisberger, who blamed the turf for the injury suffered by teammate David DeCastro on Saturday night, issued a statement acknowledging that he was wrong about FieldTurf being the surface used for Buffalo’s home field, but reiterating that he believes football should be played on grass.

“In my post-game interview on Saturday, when asked about the knee injury David DeCastro suffered, I mistakenly referred to the artificial grass in Buffalo as FieldTurf,” Roethlisberger said at BigBen7.com. “My intention was only to say I believe real grass is the safest surface for football, and allows some knee injuries to be avoided. I was really bothered by David’s injury in that moment, and can only wish him the best now in his recovery.”

On the issue of grass vs. artificial turf, Roethlisberger’s opinion is shared by many NFL players, and many NFL fans. Even if he was wrong about the specifics of the artificial turf in Buffalo.

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16 responses to “Ben Roethlisberger: Real grass is the safest surface for football”

  1. Real grass is the safest surface for football… and probably the best surface for coeds who need to run away from you fast, pal. Good traction.

  2. So basically he’s saying, “If there’s grass on the field, play ball!”

    Yup that sounds like Ben.

  3. I agree, and I think before this new wave of stadiums were built in the last decade, the NFL should have mandated any outdoor facility be made with real grass. Sure the evolution of the turf product has gotten better but the fact remains that grass is the softest and safest. It’s also how the game was designed to be played, along with the elements of the weather. With all the money that the NFL has, I think it’s reasonable to think that they should be able to keep grass in good playing condition for the players. Soldier Fields situation should be considered completely unacceptable and shouldn’t be an exception to the rest of league.

  4. If only some independent testers could do an extensive study on this. Oh wait they have and found Field Turf to be as safe or safer than grass.

  5. If you watch the replay, you can see that DeCastro clearly gets his cleats caught in the turf as his knee is twisted awkwardly. Ben is right. On grass, that’s likely not a serious injury.

  6. Perhaps Goodell should pursue this as a safety measure. Grass in all stadiums, even shipped in weekly for dome teams…..yknow for the safety of players!!! Goodells number one job focus.

  7. Heinz Field is notorious for not holding up through the whole season.

    Maybe some truth to the claim that grass is safer. But only if the field is maintained. Or grass can actually grow in the winter.

    I really don’t want to see poor footing due to new sod being laid out because there happened to be a game yesterday in the rain. In that instance, I will take field turf any day of the week.

  8. I completely agree with Roethlisberger. It’s not only the safest surface for football, but any sport played on a field.

    And this is nothing new. Ray Lewis has stated this same thing year after year.

    In fact, it’s probably one of the only things the Ravens and Steelers agree on.

    And if the Ravens and Steelers are agreeing, then it’s probably true.

  9. Until the Heinz Field sod gets too torn up from too much wear & tear from Pitt also playing on it & too short & cold of a growing season & they have to re-sod in-season, which leaves a dangerously loose & treacherous track ripe for injuries, that is …

  11. rockthered1286 says: Aug 28, 2012 7:37 PM

    I literally feel like big Ben could say “rapes not bad unless she actually says no twice,” and steelers fans will defend him.
    ______
    I happen to agree with that statement.. A girl that is being raped should have to say NO!… Too many girls, make a mistake they later regret, and then want to throw a penalty flag when their man finds out what they did..

  13. It seems pretty clear that, in a football utopia, most of us feel that the game would be played on grass, and grass only. That would be both inside and outside (let’s leave the dome vs. sky argument for another day, please).

    That said, how many exclamation-point slinging members of the “turf is an abomination before G*d!!!” crowd would be willing to pay a higher ticket price to make it happen?

    Grass is, in the long run, significantly more expensive to maintain than turf, even in outdoor stadiums; in domed stadiums, the price tag would be even higher. Those costs are going to have to be born by somebody, and it’s extremely unlikely that the team owners would opt to take the hit. The grass-only movement would probably be funded by a price-hike at the ticket booth.

  14. Soo….no one ever tore an ACL on natural grass? I don’t really agree or disagree with the idea that grass is probably safer, but I don’t think the difference is as stark as it used to be when stadiums still used the green carpet from hell.

    I do know from experience that slippery wet grass can really do some damage to the ol’ groin.

    Also, I’ve seen A-Turf up close, the local high school just installed it. It looks and feels great IMO.

  15. Uh… Ben, grass may be safer but don’t include Heinz Field as one of the grass fields in that category.

    It quickly turns to mud, and whatever grass that was there in August gets dug up and washed away until there’s no footing whatsoever. The Steelers see that as a home-field advantage, but it’s by no means safe.

  16. “If only some independent testers could do an extensive study on this. Oh wait they have and found Field Turf to be as safe or safer than grass.”

    And im absolutely sure that study was slanted to sell more field turf.

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