Sunday’s Browns-Steelers game sparked “outrage” from players on both teams regarding the poor quality of the playing surface.
Browns guard Joel Bitonio spoke his mind on the situation during a Thursday press conference.
“That’s the worst field I’ve played on,” Bitonio said, via Daniel Oyefusi of ESPN.com. “[I]t was kind of embarrassing that the National Football League, the best in the world, is playing on that.”
It’s beyond embarrassing. Whatever the reason(s), it shouldn’t happen. All teams with grass fields should spend the money necessary to ensure that the grass is high quality.
And the NFL Players Association should be willing to take the fight to the league. The P.R. battle is part of it. Sweeping changes, if any, will be a result of collective bargaining.
The NFLPA also should be exploring the available options for spotting bad fields and refusing to play on them. Yes, it could complicate scheduling. But the union needs to take a hard line in order to effect change.
All options should be on the table. Up to and including walking off fields that are objectively unsuitable and/or unsafe.
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