Turf or grass football field? Aaron Rodgers' injury sparks debate
FRAMINGHAM - The Achilles injury to New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers is sparking a debate. What is safer, a turf or grass football field? The NFL Players Association (NFLPA) is calling for the league to turn all their fields to grass.
At the high school level, the debate typically comes down to money. A turf field only has to be resurfaced about every 15 years. They also require less maintenance costs and hold up better in severe weather.
"When you look at the fact that you can start the lacrosse season by plowing off a turf field, if you have a grass field you may not start until April," explains Framingham High School Athletic Director Paul Spear.
Framingham High has their football team practice on turf, but they play their home games on the grass at Bowditch Field. So far, they have yet to see any more sports related injuries in one surface over the other.
"Nothing we can mark and note and say, 'we have got an aberration. All these injures on turf, not grass,'" said Spear. "It's difficult because we only play five or six homes games on grass. It's hard to keep statistics on that. Certainly, looking at what the NFL is doing, in terms of really cataloguing injuries, looking at precise fields, and breaking that down, that is something that in the future high schools and colleges will pay attention to."
In 2016, Framingham did run into an issue with the heat on their turf. Roughly 20 children came down with burns. They suspended the season to investigate. Now, if the temperature is too high, the team will practice on grass.
"Our kids' hands actually melted into the turf, and that was a huge problem," said Spear. "When the temperatures are high, everybody has to be aware. They can get sick much easier on the turf than the grass."
Spear believes high schools could turn to grass, if the NFL or NFLPA does research to expose a large, quantifiable danger. Medical experts at Boston University say there have been studies showing turf tends to have more injuries to the ankle or foot, but not so much in the knees.
"When you play on turf, there's more load on certain parts of the foot that can alter the mechanic of the foot or ankle," explained Dr. Chris Ma, a Sports Medicine Physician at Boston University. "There have been studies looking at the biomechanics of the turf fields, and they are different."