The NFL Players Association's new executive director has called for the league to change all of its field surfaces to natural grass in the wake of Aaron Rodgers' season-ending injury.
Rodgers suffered a torn Achilles tendon on the fourth play of the Jets' season Monday night, spoiling the superstar quarterback's New York debut and reigniting the leaguewide debate over playing surfaces at NFL stadiums.
MetLife Stadium, the home of the Jets and Giants, installed a new surface earlier this year called FieldTurf, which is softer and more forgiving feel than the stadium's previous synthetic turf.
But Rodgers' injury sparked a widespread outcry for grass surfaces, and NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell echoed those sentiments in a statement released Wednesday morning. «Moving all stadium fields to high quality natural grass surfaces is the easiest decision the NFL can make,» Howell said. «The players overwhelmingly prefer it and the data is clear that grass is simply safer than artificial turf.