NFL Executive Vice President of Communications Jeff Miller joined Ross Tucker on the Ross Tucker Podcast about ways to make the game better and safer, and that includes the playing surface.
The playing surface became an issue following Super Bowl 57 in Arizona, where many felt the field was not up to snuff, and the Aaron Rodgers injury just four plays into the 2023 season. The sodfather himself, George Toma even joined The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz to discuss the issues he sees with playing surfaces today in the NFL. It remained top of mind during Super Bowl week, as the 49ers were reportedly not happy with the condition of the practice field they were assigned leading up to the Big Game.
Miller joined Ross in Las Vegas and had some interesting comments when it comes to the playing surface. Ross asks if the players all say they want grass playing surfaces, why not just do grass?
Miller says the NFL, along with the NFLPA, has spent a lot of money to research playing surfaces as part of a joint surfaces committee. He says experts, doctors, scientists and people familiar with fields get together regularly to share all the data and understand what’s going on with fields. Miller says it is very much a collaborative effort. He also says they look at injury data to try and understand if players are getting hurt on certain surfaces. Miller says that after collecting the data, there was almost no difference between synthetic and grass surfaces — the number was .001 percent difference, amounting to six or seven or eight injuries more on synthetic than grass. However, he says neither surface — grass nor synthetic — is good enough and there is improvement to be made across several areas.
“I think we’re going to be in a better place relatively soon.”
— Ross Tucker Podcast (@RossTuckerPod) February 19, 2024
NFL EVP Jeff Miller discussing field conditions and the turf vs grass debate in the NFL: pic.twitter.com/GgRRVx2mvp
Check out Ross’ full conversation with Miller, including comments on other issues surrounding player safety and more in the full video or podcast below. And make sure to tune into the Ross Tucker Podcast on DraftKings Network! See more about how to watch DraftKings Network here.
SHOW BREAKDOWN
NFL’s Jeff Miller on Grass vs. Turf, Kickoffs, & more!
- Ross is joined by the NFL’s Jeff Miller to discuss some of the biggest topics from the 2023 NFL season including Grass vs. Turf, the kickoff rule, Patrick Mahomes’ broken helmet, & more!
Watch more below!
VIDEO:
Check out the Ross Tucker YouTube page for more and subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also follow the show on X at @rosstuckerpod and Ross at @rosstuckernfl.
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