Additionally, JC Tretter voiced concerns over league-wide field standards and NFL international expansion
By Ian Casselberry, Contributing writer
NFLPA executive director JC Tretter posted a lengthy statement on social media, including what has needed to be addressed with the grass playing surface in Rio de Janeiro leading up to kickoff on Sunday.
“The concern heading into this week was that the field would be loose, patchy, and lead to excessive slipping,” Tretter wrote. “Those conditions are generally more of a playability and performance issue than a significant injury concern.”
Tretter added that safety is the primary issue for players. But a surface that allows them to perform at their highest level, resulting in a well-played game, is also a major consideration.
Both the league and experts hired by the NFLPA have checked the field during the past week and found that the grass surface wasn’t stable enough to be suitable for a game.
“Both the NFLPA’s and the league’s field experts have been on the ground in Brazil for days, monitoring conditions and working to make the surface as safe and playable as possible for Sunday,” Tretter continued.
“Based on our experts’ assessment, the field needed better traction and stability,” he explained. “They recommended reinforced stitching to help the surface hold together and brought in equipment to reinforce as much of the field as possible before the game. Our experts will remain engaged and continue evaluating conditions through kickoff.”
NFLPA says Brazil field issues highlight larger concerns for league
The NFLPA followed up worries over the playing conditions at Maracanã Stadium to highlight additional concerns that the league needs to address, citing the high temperatures of the artificial surface at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium during Week 2’s game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Tennessee Titans.
As the game progressed, the temperature of the artificial turf reached 157 degrees, according to the Fox broadcast. Eagles offensive lineman Cam Jurgens told reporters that he needed to replace multiple pairs of his cleats because of the hot surface. Fox cameras showed Titans players having their cleats watered down to cool them off.
“We need field standards that account for both safety and performance,” Tretter wrote. “The NFL, NFLPA, and our field and engineering experts spend a lot of time working on these issues, and we’ve made progress. But we’re not where we need to be yet.”
Tretter also said the conditions in Brazil demonstrate that the NFL needs to slow down its ambitions for international expansion if field conditions can’t be made suitable for one showcase game, let alone an entire eight- or nine-game home schedule.
“Two of the three games played in Brazil have had field-related issues. That’s not a coincidence,” he pointed out. “This time of year makes it extremely challenging to maintain the kind of grass surface we expect at the NFL level.”
Tretter ended his statement by saying the players want the NFL game to grow internationally, but not at the cost of safety and high standards for playing conditions.
The NFL Rio game will kick off at 4:25 p.m. ET Sunday and be televised on CBS.