George Kittle is not letting up on the NFL as World Cup fever continues to sweep across the United States.
The San Francisco 49ers tight end threw shade at the NFL earlier this month when the global soccer tournament began. With most matches being played in NFL stadiums, Kittle pointed out how beautiful the grass looks at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif. The Los Angeles Rams and Chargers’ home venue typically uses artificial turf during the NFL season.
Kittle was a lot less subtle in his latest statement via ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
“We’ve made it clear that we prefer grass fields,” said Kittle. “We know it’s better on our bodies. And clearly, we know it’s possible based on everything that went into putting down grass fields for the World Cup in each stadium.
“At this point, it comes down to the NFL making it a priority and choosing to invest in us as players, because our bodies are our business, which they get to capitalize on!”
There’s been a strong push among players in recent years for the NFL to abolish artificial turf in favor of real grass, which is much more costly to maintain. Seeing grass laid out at turf-friendly venues for the World Cup must have been quite the tease for all pro-grass NFL stars such as Kittle.
Players have blamed the artificial turf for causing some serious lower-leg injuries over recent years. But there’s been debate about whether that’s actually true given the data.
Out of the 30 stadiums used by NFL teams (New York and Los Angeles teams share a stadium), exactly 15 of them use artificial turf.
