The Tennessee Titans will be implementing a new “cutting-edge” turf surface into their home stadium for the 2023 season.
The decision comes in response to a number of injury concerns surrounding the stadium’s current surface, which has been described as “inconsistent” natural grass. This is in large part due to Tennessee’s transition climate zone, which causes difficulties for healthy grass to grow and thrive.
As a result, Nissan’s current playing field has been deemed unsafe by team officials.
The new turf to be installed at the stadium is called Matrix Helix Turf, a type of monofilament turf that contains organic infill designed to retain moisture better than its rubber counterpart. It can produce temperatures 20-40 degrees colder than traditional turf, and because of its mineralized nature, requires watering. The organic infill cut mirrors the surface Tennessee already uses at its practice facility, and has become increasingly popular at neighboring practice facilities around the NFL.
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“Ultimately we’ve landed on the decision, based on that data, to transition to a monofilament surface with an organic infill that mimics the natural feel of grass while getting the consistency and durability of field turf,” Titans president/CEO Burke Nihill commented.
Team head coach Mike Vrabel agreed.
“There is nothing more important than the health and safety of our players,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of issues (with the grass at Nissan Stadium) after a certain part of the season. It’s hard to grow grass. It gets slick. We put new turf down, we try and put new sod down and it’s slick, you see guys slipping. Those are real things that I’ve witnessed over my time here. Our grass surface is not on the level of some of the other grass surfaces (across the NFL). …
“… We added this product inside the bubble and … the response has been very positive, very favorable to that surface to the new technology that continues to come out. Just witnessing our practices inside and how they feel and how they respond on that product. … We’re excited to be able to add this product to our stadium.”
Tennessee is certainly excited about its future with the new field, and is confident its done ample research on its safety.
But turf surfaces are wildly unpopular among NFL players, many who’ve clamored for all stadiums to use grass.
“I do think it’s time to go all grass throughout the league,” four-time MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers commented in November. He wasn’t the only player to hold this opinion.
“You kind of feel the difference when you’re running,” Minnesota Vikings running back Dalvin Cook said. “If we can fix it, let’s fix it. Let’s get the safest atmosphere for us to go play in.”
Added Detroit receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown: “I do prefer playing on grass. It’s more forgiving, more natural, and it just feel it’s better. It feels better on my joints, my ankles and whatnot.” Jacksonville Jaguars safety Rayshawn Jenkins called artificial turf the equivalent of playing in a parking lot, saying “I’m getting slammed on the concrete. It doesn’t feel good.”
But Tennessee is adamant that this isn’t a traditional concrete-like suface.
“A properly built synthetic turf field with organic infill and a pad is a superior system to a mediocre grass field,” Reed Seaton, president and CEO of Hellas Construction Inc. said. “The technology of synthetic turf is now able to emulate a well-maintained grass field.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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