Green Bay Packers linebacker De’Vondre Campbell isn’t hiding his feelings about turf fields in the NFL.
After his teammate and fellow linebacker Rashan Gary went down with an ACL injury on Detroit’s turf field, Campbell sounded off about how the NFL needs to consider switching fields back to grass.
Sixteen teams in the NFL play their games on artificial turf across 14 stadiums.
Campbell isn’t the first NFL player to complain about turf.
San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle called the league’s turf fields “crappy” last month, and NFLPA president J.C. Tretter has publicly endorsed grass fields to be used league-wide.
NFL players also rallied around wideout Odell Beckham Jr. after he tore his ACL during the Super Bowl on the Rams’ artificial turf field. A petition circulated at the time, led by NFL players like Kittle and 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa.
“Every player is one play away from altering their career forever when playing on turf,” Bosa wrote earlier this year. “I experienced the bad side of this and it could have been avoided.”
The NFL is reportedly working to find a better path forward that still incorporates turf components, according to an investigative report done by Yahoo Sports earlier this year.
However, as more NFL players fall victim to the turf monster, the calls for turf removal altogether will only grow louder from the football community at large.
