NFLPA calls out MetLife Stadium's FIFA Club World Cup transformation

For years, NFL players have expressed their preference for natural playing surfaces instead of cheaper, synthetic turfs used in a significant number NFL stadiums a only to be rebuffed by owners.

In a 2020 statement, then-NFLPA president JC Tretter wrote, "The NFLPA is advocating for teams to convert artificial practice and game fields to natural grass fields," while pointing to injury data to support his argument.

"Players have a 28% higher rate of non-contact lower extremity injuries when playing on artificial turf," Tretter wrote. 

Three years later, the NFLPA president combatted a league narrative following one year of inconclusive injury data, writing, "Now, 10 of the previous 11 years show the same exact thing -- grass is a significantly safer surface than turf.

"Instead of following the long-term data...the NFL used an outlier year to engage in a PR campaign to convince everyone that the problem doesn't actually exist," Tretter stated.

He also addressed owners' willingness to swap out artificial surfaces for grass when it comes to staging soccer matches at their billion-dollar stadiums.

"Owners are more willing to provide safe fields for soccer players than for the football players...who, in many cases, helped pay for the stadiums where those fields lay," Tretter emphasized.

Per NBC Sports Bay Area, 14 NFL stadiums use 100 percent natural grass, while the Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles use Desso GrassMaster, a natural-synthetic hybrid.

Considering the money the NFL and its teams rake in every year, there's no good excuse to forgo grass fields, especially when cities and taxpayers finance the billion-dollar stadium projects.

Take U.S. Bank Stadium, built for $1.1 billion in Minneapolis, for example. Last season, the Vikings switched from a slit-film turf to a safer artificial alternative rather than a grass field. Steve Poppen, the team's executive vice president and chief business administration officer, explained the decision via ESPN's Kevin Seifert, saying, "U.S. Bank Stadium...was designed for artificial surface. We don't have the ability to grow grass in that stadium right now."

At least MetLife Stadium, which cost $1.6 billion, can support a grass field. Yet while soccer clubs will enjoy the more forgiving surface, NFL players won't be as fortunate.

If change occurs, it will likely come at the negotiating table when agreeing to terms on the next collective bargaining agreement, which won't be for another six years. The current CBA expires in March 2031.

Until then, whenever an NFL stadium removes its turf for grass to accommodate FIFA, which requires natural playing surfaces, it will be like rubbing salt in players' wounds.

Most teams have the power and resources to do the right thing. Players aren't asking for the world, just a few blades of grass. If stadiums like MetLife can install grass surfaces for soccer tournaments, then NFL players should be extended the same courtesy.