Reliant's Turf

[NCTexan]

Seriously though. I recall at least two times Arian, and another time where Tate went down with no contact seemingly because of the turf.

That's just off the top of my head.

[SwoLy-D]

Wasn't there a game played there the night before?

[Vinny]

I'm officially on the Reliant turf sucks bandwagon. I thought it was mostly cosmetic but I think we are growing grass with poor root systems or something. The grass seems weak and there are seams everywhere. Time for field turf and stop trying to grow grass indoors/outdoors on palates. Too bad we didn't think of the Arizona solution when we built this one.

[thunderkyss]

Originally Posted by keyser

What is up with the turf tonight? I've seen about half a dozen times when Texans have slipped down with either no contact or what seems to be very minor contact. I haven't noticed it happening to the Packers, but might have just been tuning it out. Could it be cleats or something?

You know... we "cried" about the turf before the play-offs last season. However, the turf didn't pose any problem what-so-ever to anyone but the Texans.

Why is it just a problem for us? Why didn't we see any Packers slipping & sliding & tearing their achilles?

[amazing80]

Originally Posted by Fiddler

You know... we "cried" about the turf before the play-offs last season. However, the turf didn't pose any problem what-so-ever to anyone but the Texans.

Why is it just a problem for us? Why didn't we see any Packers slipping & sliding & tearing their achilles?

did you notice all their knee injuries?

[CloakNNNdagger]

Originally Posted by Fiddler

You know... we "cried" about the turf before the play-offs last season. However, the turf didn't pose any problem what-so-ever to anyone but the Texans.

Why is it just a problem for us? Why didn't we see any Packers slipping & sliding & tearing their achilles?

Because they were too busy tearing up their knees.

Green Bay's 42-14 win at Houston came at a steep price. Coach Mike McCarthy, who usually withholds any revealing information about the severity of injuries after a game was upfront.

“Unfortunately, we have some potentially serious injuries,” McCarthy said.

Linebacker D.J. Smith and RB Brandon Saine crumpled to the turf and left the game with significant right knee injuries. Both wore grimaces on their faces as they were helped off the field by trainers. In the locker room, they both were on crutches with their knees wrapped.

"We feel the injuries are significant,” McCarthy said of Smith and Saine. “We'll have to recover from that and move on.”

But that wasn't all.

Outside linebacker Nick Perry also left the game with a knee injury. Though he was seen walking around and laughing on the sideline during the game, he didn't return. In the fourth quarter, CB Sam Shields left the game after being kicked in the shin. Before being carted off the field, Shields could be seen angrily slamming his hand against the bench on the sideline, while talking to a trainer.

Even QB Aaron Rodgers had a slight limp as he walked off the field late in the fourth quarter. Rodgers' leg was receiving medical attention on the sideline after he departed, though it didn't appear serious.

The specifics and severity of the injuries won't be known until McCarthy addresses the media late on Monday, and even then he may not have or provide much information.

link

[sandmanx]

I don't know why the team doesn't go with field turf. It seems the field is in bad shape for several games each year.

[Hervoyel]

Originally Posted by Fiddler

You know... we "cried" about the turf before the play-offs last season. However, the turf didn't pose any problem what-so-ever to anyone but the Texans.

Why is it just a problem for us? Why didn't we see any Packers slipping & sliding & tearing their achilles?

We've seen other teams come into Reliant and have problems. we can't point to a single game where the issue didn't come up (for one side or both sides) and say that there's not a problem. Over the years we've seen so many plays affected by slipping players (ours and theirs) that this issue is really not something I think is debateable anymore. There's a problem.

[Titans Sux 72]

Yeah but the turf "ranks " high in league.

Believe me I hate the field also but got jumped on here cause I guess I did not LOVE all things Texans.

[infantrycak]

Originally Posted by Titans Sux 72

Yeah but the turf "ranks " high in league.

Believe me I hate the field also but got jumped on here cause I guess I did not LOVE all things Texans.

Don't take it so personal. The opinions of fans on this are about the most irrelevant of any issue in football. The players want the grass. For me that is the end of the story.

And Doc I am sorry but you can't ascribe every knee injury which happens to the turf. Darelle Revis blew his knee without contact on a non-trayed grass field. It happens every weekend in the NFL. Then there are all sorts of contact knee injuries having nothing to do with the turf like Cushing.

[Rey]

Schaub said the field was how it always is.

And players slip on every field.

I don't know if they use the same type of surface for highschool and college games, but my brother and two brother in laws have played in reliant multiple times. None if them complained about the field.

Maybe they give high school and college players the good stuff.

[FirstTexansFan]

I wonder how difficult and expensive it would be to modify the stadium to what Arizona is doing? In looking at pictures of the stadium, it appears to me visually it could be accomplished.

[paycheck71]

Originally Posted by FirstTexansFan

I wonder how difficult and expensive it would be to modify the stadium to what Arizona is doing? In looking at pictures of the stadium, it appears to me visually it could be accomplished.

I think it would be incredibly expensive, if not impossible. You'd have to redesign and reconstruct supporting structures for one end zone's stands and roof.

They will go to field turf 10 times over before the even consider that solution.

As someone already pointed out, players want to play on grass, and how "bad" the field looks to us makes no difference. Heard ND Kalu on the radio earlier in the week discussing this, and he said he had no problem with the Texans field when he played here. He said it was a little harder than other natural grass fields, but much better than any artificial turf he played on.

[CloakNNNdagger]

Originally Posted by paycheck71

I think it would be incredibly expensive, if not impossible. You'd have to redesign and reconstruct supporting structures for one end zone's stands and roof.

They will go to field turf 10 times over before the even consider that solution.

As someone already pointed out, players want to play on grass, and how "bad" the field looks to us makes no difference. Heard ND Kalu on the radio earlier in the week discussing this, and he said he had no problem with the Texans field when he played here. He said it was a little harder than other natural grass fields, but much better than any artificial turf he played on.

Open air stadium are constructed to allow full sun to the grass and extensive as-needed watering. Grass on pallets to begin with are more difficult to care for. Not moving the pallets out for periods of time can have a negative effect on the grass. Moving the pallets too often can have a traumatic effect. Watering techniques and needs inside and outside the stadium differ and their effects on the grass can be significant. Once the grass is damaged, return to "health" within a pallet is a much more difficult and lengthy process than if part of the natural ground. All of this, along with not replacing the pallets as needed, has very damaging effects on the root systems, resulting in cleats throwing clumps creating holes and divots throughout the field. I spoke to one of the grounds keepers involved in the care of this system near the beginning of the stadium's existence who mentioned a significant concern of these clumps coming up right at the seams of the pallets creating significant hazard spots where pseudo separations would easily catch a player's cleats.

[Double Barrel]

Originally Posted by texanhead08

There was word that they would have a field turf surface for the non texan games, but it wasn't used for UH-RICE or SHSU-SFA so I don't know what gives.

That policy goes into effect next year, 2013.

Turf for non-NFL events coming to Reliant Stadium

The article mentions that it would be used this year, but I heard on the radio today that they will start using it next year. I do not know the reason(s) for the delay.

Originally Posted by Rey

Schaub said the field was how it always is.

And players slip on every field.

I don't know if they use the same type of surface for highschool and college games, but my brother and two brother in laws have played in reliant multiple times. None if them complained about the field.

Maybe they give high school and college players the good stuff.

yep, my son said the same thing. He said the players love playing at Reliant, both for the atmosphere and because the field is great.

[ChampionTexan]

Originally Posted by Double Barrel

That policy goes into effect next year, 2013.

Turf for non-NFL events coming to Reliant Stadium

The article mentions that it would be used this year, but I heard on the radio today that they will start using it next year. I do not know the reason(s) for the delay.



yep, my son said the same thing. He said the players love playing at Reliant, both for the atmosphere and because the field is great.

While "Great" might not not exactly describe their response, the NFLPA player survey done after the 2010 season clearly did not indicate any perceived problem on the part of those who play on it on Sundays. It ranked Reliant as 7th best of the 18 natural grass playing surfaces currently used by the NFL (artificial surfaces were ranked separately). Then again, I'm sure that those watching on TV or from the stands probably have a more informed opinion than the actual players who use it, so nevermind.

LINK

[amazing80]

Nick Perry said in an interview in Milwaukee that the field was like playing on carpet, it was terrible.

[hookinreds]

I was watching other games on League Pass on Sunday and was commenting to my friend how many players were slipping at the line of scrimmage trying to change direction...and these were on the field turf. In other words, I didn't see any more slipping in our game than I did in the other games. During our game, I could really notice more seams than usual as well, and it appeared to be getting chewed up more than normal. I blame global warming.

[Hervoyel]

Somehow this morphed from a "Guys were slipping and sliding all over the place" thread to a "It looks bad and we don't like it" thread.

But hey, if the players want to play on it then by all means, have at it guys.

[paycheck71]

Originally Posted by CloakNNNdagger

Open air stadium are constructed to allow full sun to the grass and extensive as-needed watering. Grass on pallets to begin with are more difficult to care for. Not moving the pallets out for periods of time can have a negative effect on the grass. Moving the pallets too often can have a traumatic effect. Watering techniques and needs inside and outside the stadium differ and their effects on the grass can be significant. Once the grass is damaged, return to "health" within a pallet is a much more difficult and lengthy process than if part of the natural ground. All of this, along with not replacing the pallets as needed, has very damaging effects on the root systems, resulting in cleats throwing clumps creating holes and divots throughout the field. I spoke to one of the grounds keepers involved in the care of this system near the beginning of the stadium's existence who mentioned a significant concern of these clumps coming up right at the seams of the pallets creating significant hazard spots where pseudo separations would easily catch a player's cleats.

I don't have any argument with any of this.

At least in theory, the damage to the grass and root system due to lack of water, light or due to trauma can be solved by having enough trays outside, getting back to health. I've mentioned before, that the seams and potential inconsistencies from tray to tray are the two biggest problems with this system, if in fact those are big enough issues. And I'm not sure that there is a solution.