For the majority of football’s history, the natural field has been the choice of playing area for games and practices. However, a vast amount of professional teams have decided to make the change to turf material fields, as it requires less maintenance and provides a better visual aesthetic both on the field and through television. Due to this choice, though, more and more injuries occur earlier into the regular season for multiple reasons.

David Bakhtiari, the Green Bay Packers offensive tackle, talked about how National Football League (NFL) Pro Bowler Aaron Rodgers was affected by the new turf put into the MetLife Stadium, causing him to tear his Achilles and forcing him to go into rehab for eight weeks. He stated that the injury had to be turf-related and that the NFL needed to “put an end to it already.” Although it is not sure, most NFL players and analysts believe that the turf causes so many injuries because of how shallow it is. Since it is not rooted deep into the floor like a natural field, when a player is making a quick turn, it causes their foot to stayplanted instead of the grass coming out of the ground with them. If the NFL does not make a change quickly, this may cause many players to go into retirement very early in their careers, as it would be too high of a risk to keep playing on. The artificial turf also comes with more health problems, and the rubber it is made from is not healthy to breathe in, especially since they are on the floor often due to them being tackled. Not only does this impose a problem for the players, but the environment as the making of these fields require non-renewable resources like rubber.

This past NFL season has had the most player injuries in the past 50 years. Artificial turf has played a positive and negative role in the progression of football technology. While they give a cheaper, more reliable playing surface, they could also provide potential health risks that could alter a player’s career. The NFL has still not decided whether they are going to make all stadiums turf fields or not, but regardless, the choice will come with drawbacks and pros. Potentially, it might be safer to rever back to regular grass even if the maintenance is more expensive.