Rooney's will keep the real grass at Heinz Field

[BlitzburghRockCity]

Dan and Art Rooney have long maintained they prefer grass at Heinz Field instead of artificial turf because they believed it to be safer for players. They did this even though the condition of the grass field has been ridiculed on occasion. It reached a crescendo during the "Four Rivers Stadium" game played in the muck in 2007, a 3-0 Steelers victory over Miami, a game whose lasting memory was a shot of the nose of the football stuck in the mud after a punt.


Turns out, the Rooneys were right to resist installing artificial turf, at least as it pertains to player safety. A new, exhaustive 10-year study of injuries throughout the NFL will be released soon and will show that most severe injuries to the knee and ankle occur on artificial turf.


The study also will be used to try to educate players around the league as to the proper shoes to wear when they do play on artificial turf. While the colors must be correct, players have free choice as to the kind of shoes they wear. Many still insist on wearing spikes designed for grass on artificial turf rather than the plastic nubs designed for the fake surfaces, and that, the study will show, can lead to more injuries.


Heinz Field is 100 percent grass after the DDGrassmaster weave originally installed was ditched a few years ago. The entire field will be re-sodded after the high school championship games played there after Thanksgiving.


From the PG (http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11310/1187621-66-0.stm#ixzz1cuIQDRRV)

[LarryNJ]

Keep it grass but simply get a better landscaper. There was no excuse for the poor field conditions. Other fields don't have that problem.

[nuclearchihuahuas]

I kind of like the muck. It just goes with the Steelers character as get down in the mud and slug it out. :imho:

[JensK]

Without being a big fan of the whole notion of "Thats how Steelers always did it", I have to say that playing on grass is some of the Pittsburgh Steelers identity, much like playing ice cold games with snow and whatnot late-season. It just wouldnt be the same without it.

[LarryNJ]

They played for 30 years on concrete in 3 Rivers. Anything is better than that era.

[BlitzburghRockCity]

The Steelers spend so much money every year resodding that field, it's incredible. On opening weekend it looks so nice and then by mid season it looks like a war zone. We were there for the Falcons preseason game and it looked phenomenal and then last weekend for the Patriots game you could the season taking it's toll.

After the high school football weekend they'll resod it again but if bad weather comes right after that and then the Steelers play on it, the whole thing just goes to hell again.

[Stairwayto7]

Just quit letting high schools paly there

[RIVERS OF STEEL]

How can you really play football with out the grass stains and mud all over yourself when it rains. Pansies..... ball.

[steelersbabex25]

:duh: Even my high school had a turf field..

[LarryNJ]

Is it all natural now? I know it was a hybrid type when it first opened.

[Dobre Shunka]

I like it.

[BlitzburghRockCity]

With the Steelers having so much speed on offense these days, if the field is poor late in the year it could hinder the offenses production. We'll have to wait and see...

From BRC's DROID X of Awesomeness

[Steelers086]

I played on a grass field, and I like watching games played on grass and in the mud. I don't mind most of the updates made to the game, but a good grass field should never be taken away.

[BlitzburghRockCity]

Anybody else notice the receivers starting to slip and slid alittle bit in the game tonight? We're getting to the point in the season now where this happens every year. Certainly it wasn't the difference in the game but it's just something that happens every single year. Fortunately the Steelers are on the road next week and then they have a bye. After that they are on the road at KC.