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Despite mess, Steelers don't want artificial turf
Associated Press

Updated: November 28, 2007, 9:18 PM ET
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PITTSBURGH -- There is nothing artificial about the Pittsburgh Steelers' feelings. They love their home-field advantage, even if it means playing on the NFL's worst field.

Two days after slogging their way to a last-minute 3-0 victory over the Miami Dolphins on as miserable a playing field as the NFL has seen in years, the Steelers were lobbying hard Wednesday to retain their grass field.

All that was missing in the players' keep-the-grass campaign was a poster displaying a swatch of artificial turf with a slash mark across it.

"I think everybody wants to keep the grass," wide receiver Hines Ward said.

The Heinz Field grass routinely deteriorates over a long season during which at least 10 Steelers games and 12 college and high school games are played there. Monday's mess was the result of a newly installed layer of sod, installed only the day before, becoming saturated with nearly 1½ inches of rain in a short time.

The players are worried Monday's nationally televised field fiasco will cause the league to pressure the Steelers into putting down artificial turf. An NFL operations official is staying in town this week to monitor the field conditions ahead of Sunday's game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

"We've still got the dryers out," linebacker James Farrior said. "But if it rains again [Sunday], who knows what will happen?"

Team president Art Rooney II said the Steelers will weigh all options, including the newest-generation artificial turf. That's what has his players concerned.

"I need the grass. I like the mud. I like the sloppiness," cornerback Ike Taylor said. "I'm used to it. Mr. Rooney, can we please keep the grass? I don't want no FieldTurf. It's bad on your knees."

The Steelers have FieldTurf in their indoor practice building, which they use more frequently as the weather deteriorates late each season. Several players said it would be too much to practice several times a week on artificial turf and then go play on it.

Ward and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger don't want the Steelers to lose the home-field advantage they have in November and December, when teams accustomed to a fast artificial field must adjust to Heinz Field's ragged grass.

They might have an argument: The Steelers are 45-20-1 in November and December the last seven seasons.

"Everybody wants to see the field looking pretty," Ward said. "But that [grass] gives us a home-field advantage. You've got to learn how to play on it. For us, there's a lot more injuries on turf."

Steelers safety Troy Polamalu (knee) and wide receiver Santonio Holmes (sprained ankle) were hurt playing on artificial turf Nov. 18 against the New York Jets.

"I think every player would rather play on grass," Roethlisberger said. "The field we have is our advantage because we know what it is and we are used to it. Other teams aren't as prepared for it."

The Bengals (4-7) are accustomed to practicing on less-than-superb grass at their practice site, which may prove helpful in preparing for their annual trip to Pittsburgh. They have won there the last two seasons and could become the first opposing team to win three in a row at Heinz Field.

Willie Parker is one of the few Steelers players who wouldn't mind switching to turf, but his response was predictable. The team's fastest player, Parker said artificial turf is a help to skill position players who rely on their speed.

"But, you know, Steelers football is the grass, the mud, the messed-up field and there's a lot of advantages to that," Parker said. "Right now, we've got to use that to our advantage."

Left tackle Marvel Smith, out with a sore back, was unhappy he didn't get to play in the NFL's unofficial Mud Bowl.

"It looked like it was fun," he said. "Like a little kid playing in the mud."

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press

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"Everybody wants to see the field looking pretty," Ward said. "But that [grass] gives us a home-field advantage. You've got to learn how to play on it. For us, there's a lot more injuries on turf."

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First you have to learn how to take care of it Hiney..I'm all for natural grass but as irresponsible as the Steelers were in managing that field,...they shouldn't be allowed to have it.

I work at a very small class 2A school in Texas. If our field looked like that our athletic director and school would be ashamed. I garuatee our grass is better than the grass at Hienz..That is sad. I know we don't have as many games....But we also don't have the budget they have.

I recall hearing the announcers during the game, say they just laid the new sod over top of the old, without pulling up the old first, which is what made it 10x worse. I don't know if it's true or not, but it sure looked like it may have been.

I think they did it on purpose because they thought a really sloppy field would add to their competitive advantage with the power running game and the power defense.. and it backfired.

Yep, I think the Steelers resort to dirty tricks to beat the winless Dolphins.

There is no question that the Steelers resort to cheating. Whether they are bribing officials (Superbowl vs. Seahawks, or 2nd game vs. Browns in '07), whether they are intentionally injuring quarterbacks (see Carson Palmer in a playoff game in '05, also see Tom Brady in a playoff game in '01) or whether they are sabotoging what is supposed to be an NFL caliber playing surface, they are trying to gain an advantage.

However, I kind of liked watching a mud bowl on Monday night, it reminded me of some old school football games.

Let me ask you something... November 1963, Dallas, Texas...Was there a second shooter?

Yes, and it was Jim Morrison.

By the way, he is the one responsible for paying off the refs, not the Roony's.

The field was terrible because they layed new sod a few days before a game which was dumb enough, it's not gonna have enough time to take root to deal with an NFL game, then throw the rain in there on top of it.

I believe the field will be fine if they do it properly. Would you lay down new sod, then go out and run like hell all over it with cleats on in your own yard?
Of course you wouldn't. Why they did I don't know. Even without the rain it was a stupid decision.

But I do like grass in a football game, that's the surface it should be played on.

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The players are worried Monday's nationally televised field fiasco will cause the league to pressure the Steelers into putting down artificial turf. An NFL operations official is staying in town this week to monitor the field conditions ahead of Sunday's game against the Cincinnati Bengals.



Team president Art Rooney II said the Steelers will weigh all options, including the newest-generation artificial turf. That's what has his players concerned.

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I keep hearing this talked about on Sirius and ESPN, in regard to the Steelers trying to decide if they are going to go to fake turf in the near future.

What I keep wondering and someone can please explain it to me if they know......but how would this be the Steelers' decision when they don't own the facility????

Heinz Field is owned by the Sports and Exhibition Authority of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. Would it not ultimately be their decision as to whether or not to switch surfaces?

NO! For crying out loud, how many times I gotta tell ya...the Rooneys make the decisions about Heinz Field!

If the Steelers want natural grass, that is fine, but it is unreasonable to expect a natural grass field to hold up in Novemeber when you play other games on the field.

Regardless of what their field looked like on Monday, it's always been a terrible field. Cincinnati had major problems early this decade and finally went to field turf. Seems like once they have problems, they just can't seem to get it right.

Their field is just as crappy as the rest of the city.