Mary Whitfill Roeloffs
Forbes Staff

Updated Jan 2, 2024, 08:47am EST​

The Miami Dolphins suffered another major loss with the ACL tear of pass-rusher Bradley Chubb in a game against the Baltimore Ravens on New Year's Eve, adding Chubb to a long list of others who’ve suffered destructive lower-body injuries this season amid debate over the safety of playing on grass versus turf.

Of this year's 24 major leg injuries so far, 13 have occurred on a turf or partially turf field. Injuries have most commonly happened this season on M&T Bank Stadium's grass field, U.S. Bank Stadium's turf and at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, which uses turf for NFL games. Rodgers and Tannehill were hurt on turf, Nick Chubb and Diggs were injured on grass. Lambeau Field in Green Bay, where Cousins was injured, has a hybrid turf mix of synthetic and natural grass.

​'How many more players have to get hurt on artificial turf?'

September 12, 2023  By Turf & Rec

A game-ending ankle injury to New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers has renewed debate over the safety of artificial turf.

Rodgers appeared to have caught his foot in the artificial turf and left the game afterwards.
David Bakhtiari, a former teammate of Rodgers with the Green Bay Packers, posted on social media, “How many more players have to get hurt on artificial turf? You care more about soccer players than us.”

Bakhtiari’s reference was to stadiums replacing artificial turf with natural grass for the coming World Cup of soccer. He suggested all National Football League stadiums replace artificial turf with natural grass to cut back on further player injuries.

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SEPTEMBER 2, 2023 by StudyFinds Staff

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Playing sports can be dangerous. However, one study notes that the playing surface an athlete is standing on can significantly impact their risk of suffering a concussion. A researcher at the University of Hawai’i explains that playing on synthetic turf fields can increase the risk of a serious head injury in comparison to playing on natural grass.

The study, presented at the 2022 American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference & Exhibition, highlights the importance of considering the safety of the playing surface itself in athletics.
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Ian Chun, a medical student at the University of Hawai’i, conducted the study. He compared the impact deceleration of manikins on natural grass and synthetic turf high school football fields. The findings showed that synthetic turf fields had a greater impact on an athlete’s ability to slow down, indicating an increased risk of injuries due to contact with the playing surface.

While injuries in sports have always been a part of the game, the focus on player safety has shifted in recent years. The study emphasizes the need to consider the spaces where we play and their impact on athlete safety. Synthetic turf fields, although favored for their lower maintenance costs, have been associated with ankle and knee injuries, and now, a potentially higher risk of concussions.

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by JC Tretter 4/19/23

For more than a decade, players have been speaking out about their strong preference to work on natural grass over synthetic playing surfaces. Players have shared stories about how their bodies feel after playing on turf compared to grass, and the injury data for nearly a decade supports those anecdotes.
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However, in early November of last year, there was a large media offensive by the NFL to pushback against the historical data and players’ experiences. The following slide was distributed to the media, and NFL staff and owners were aggressive in their claims that the fight over which is safer, grass or turf, was no longer an issue.

​What this graph shows is that for six consecutive years, injury rates on synthetic surfaces were far higher than on natural surfaces.
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