All Stadiums should be GRASS

[Coach Nowlin]

There is enough data now.   

 

 

 

[23andCounting]

No thank you.

[Coach Nowlin]

Bears game today had a LOT of rain leading into the game including all Morning until about 90 mins before game.....  But NFL teams have money to buy and keep a tarp on grass fields do they dont look like that HS field in picture

[Bash Riprock]

13 hours ago, Coach Nowlin said:

Bears game today had a LOT of rain leading into the game including all Morning until about 90 mins before game.....  But NFL teams have money to buy and keep a tarp on grass fields do they dont look like that HS field in picture

Wasn't it Belichick that "used to forget" to put the tarp on the field and leave it nice and frozen for opposing teams with speed??

[Coach Nowlin]

probably 

 

[btownqbcoach1]

23 hours ago, Bash Riprock said:

Wasn't it Belichick that "used to forget" to put the tarp on the field and leave it nice and frozen for opposing teams with speed??

well.. I'm not sure why he would do that.... the officiating would swallow their whistles as Ty Law, Asante Samuel and company were allowed to assault Wayne and Harrison up and down the sideline every January. 

[Bash Riprock]

20 minutes ago, btownqbcoach1 said:

well.. I'm not sure why he would do that.... the officiating would swallow their whistles as Ty Law, Asante Samuel and company were allowed to assault Wayne and Harrison up and down the sideline every January. 

True...very true.  In many states, the mugging those guys would put on receivers are considered felonies.....

[Irishman]

Looks like the doors have been open to get back to grass fields in the NFL. I am fine with this on the pro and college level. Converting fields on the high school level back to grass is not something I see happeing though. It very likely will cost as much to reinstall it. I will always contend, using the fields I recall during my coaching career, especially my last home field, that the turf has been a better and safer alternative to grass. 

 

 

[Bash Riprock]

I just don’t buy player safety focus by the NFL. They continue to add games to the schedule and allow heads shots like this with zero flags. Was sickening to watch this live. Goodell and his cronies are so full of crap that their eyes are brown. Selling the  “perception” of care. 
 

[Bobref]

48 minutes ago, Bash Riprock said:

I just don’t buy player safety focus by the NFL.

A lot of the player safety stuff is initiated by the NFLPA.

[Bash Riprock]

1 hour ago, Bobref said:

A lot of the player safety stuff is initiated by the NFLPA.

Understand. Most unions scream for safety but settle for higher wages. They have been unable to prevent Goodell’s vision for more regular season games, Thursday night games with less body recovery time, and crown of head hits like the one I just showed. Sorry, but find NFL push for player safety a little disingenuous. 

[Bobref]

13 minutes ago, Bash Riprock said:

Understand. Most unions scream for safety but settle for higher wages. They have been unable to prevent Goodell’s vision for more regular season games, Thursday night games with less body recovery time, and crown of head hits like the one I just showed. Sorry, but find NFL push for player safety a little disingenuous. 

Don’t understand how you can say that when you look at all the rules changes that have come in the last several years.

[Bash Riprock]

6 minutes ago, Bobref said:

Don’t understand how you can say that when you look at all the rules changes that have come in the last several years.

I’m in the risk management business. I can change rules, write new SOP’s, etc….now let’s talk about impact. 
 

when one advocates player safety, but ignores fatigue and bodily impact and schedules more games, adds Thursday night games, knowing that’s not adequate for bodily recovery, and ignores viscous crown of head impacts like we saw last week, well it’s hard for an organization to thump their chest and claim they care for their employees. Extra games and Thursday games are about one thing and one thing only….and it’s NOT player safety. 

[Bobref]

35 minutes ago, Bash Riprock said:

I’m in the risk management business. I can change rules, write new SOP’s, etc….now let’s talk about impact. 
 

when one advocates player safety, but ignores fatigue and bodily impact and schedules more games, adds Thursday night games, knowing that’s not adequate for bodily recovery, and ignores viscous crown of head impacts like we saw last week, well it’s hard for an organization to thump their chest and claim they care for their employees. Extra games and Thursday games are about one thing and one thing only….and it’s NOT player safety. 

On the other hand, these are consenting adults, getting paid a lot of money. And that “one thing and one thing only” seems to be fine with the players. All this stuff is collectively bargained. They walk a fine line between the violence that makes the game appealing, and trying to take the catastrophic injuries out of the game. There is absolutely no question that the game is orders of magnitude safer than it was when I played, and that is true at every level. It will never be as safe as tiddlywinks, but there’s no question it’s safer now than ever.

[Bash Riprock]

52 minutes ago, Bobref said:

On the other hand, these are consenting adults, getting paid a lot of money. And that “one thing and one thing only” seems to be fine with the players. All this stuff is collectively bargained. They walk a fine line between the violence that makes the game appealing, and trying to take the catastrophic injuries out of the game. There is absolutely no question that the game is orders of magnitude safer than it was when I played, and that is true at every level. It will never be as safe as tiddlywinks, but there’s no question it’s safer now than ever.

You and I played a long time ago, so obviously its safer.  

But players today are much better (overall) than players from our generation...both in strength and speed.  The size and strength of lineman, LB's, safeties, etc.  No one is arguing that safety hasn't advanced.  But one is blind if they refuse to see that the NFL (and its union) have also ignored risk in various areas such as adding games, adding games during the week, and ignoring the consenquence of violent crown of helmet head shots without deterrents such as penalities/ejections that we do see in other levels of the game.

I was a safety....I appreciate physicality.  As was my son for a major 6A program and was pretty darn successful.  (both individual and team) But we lived through his head injuries and they were more profound than mine, even with advancements of better equipment, rules, etc.  Bottom line, better, faster and stronger athletes.

I have no issue is the NFLPA wants to yell for all grass fields.....all I am saying they have chosen multiple times to compromise on other important safety issues....why?  $$$

We can agree to disagree...last word is yours.  I'm out.

[Bobref]

38 minutes ago, Bash Riprock said:

You and I played a long time ago, so obviously its safer.  

But players today are much better (overall) than players from our generation...both in strength and speed.  The size and strength of lineman, LB's, safeties, etc.  No one is arguing that safety hasn't advanced.  But one is blind if they refuse to see that the NFL (and its union) have also ignored risk in various areas such as adding games, adding games during the week, and ignoring the consenquence of violent crown of helmet head shots without deterrents such as penalities/ejections that we do see in other levels of the game.

I was a safety....I appreciate physicality.  As was my son for a major 6A program and was pretty darn successful.  (both individual and team) But we lived through his head injuries and they were more profound than mine, even with advancements of better equipment, rules, etc.  Bottom line, better, faster and stronger athletes.

I have no issue is the NFLPA wants to yell for all grass fields.....all I am saying they have chosen multiple times to compromise on other important safety issues....why?  $$$

We can agree to disagree...last word is yours.  I'm out.

Can we agree that the medical care provided by the teams now is light years better than it has been as recently as 20 yrs. ago?

[Bash Riprock]

23 minutes ago, Bobref said:

Can we agree that the medical care provided by the teams now is light years better than it has been as recently as 20 yrs. ago?

Without a doubt 

[Coach Nowlin]

A 15 yard penalty is not going to stop full impact accidental crown to crown collisions in this game played by physical men 

[Bash Riprock]

23 hours ago, Coach Nowlin said:

A 15 yard penalty is not going to stop full impact accidental crown to crown collisions in this game played by physical men 

OK...let's assume high school and college has it wrong....then lets change it for them.

So much about CTE injuries to NFL players....either they try to discourage leading with the crown of the helmet, or they don't.  But don't go on and on about player safety ignoring what happened in the Pats/Giants game.  The tackler also subjected himself to a spinal cord injury risk.  

I am all for physical play as well....but as a former youth football coach, never did we teach tackling leading with the crown of the helmet.  Head up and we all know that.  

But hey, lets ignore that, add more games, add a Thursday night game and claim player safety is value #1.  The NFL needs to walk their talk.

[Coach Nowlin]

I am on the same side you are:   

I am just pointing out that you can get upset about the type of helmet crown photo you linked here all you want, a 15 yard penalty is not going to change anything.  And I would opin, the last 5 years you have seen less and less of it on Sundays and Saturdays., but you cannot and will not EVER have it completely leave the game unless the belts and flags come out like they do for the "pro bowl" 

 

[Muda69]

Punished:     https://www.instagram.com/reel/DR-qkGzkSo2/

Edited December 8, 2025 by Muda69

[Bash Riprock]

4 hours ago, Coach Nowlin said:

I am on the same side you are:   

I am just pointing out that you can get upset about the type of helmet crown photo you linked here all you want, a 15 yard penalty is not going to change anything.  And I would opin, the last 5 years you have seen less and less of it on Sundays and Saturdays., but you cannot and will not EVER have it completely leave the game unless the belts and flags come out like they do for the "pro bowl" 

 

that's not really what I am trying to say...I'm not hitting the mark.

Its not the individual issue...I am just saying overall its easy to claim player safety top issue for the NFL.  I am just saying there are plenty of examples (this being one) where the behavior doesn't match their words.  Sure as Bob says, game is overall safer today.  But there are several examples of where they turn their head, especially if  $$ is king.  (Especially with more games, added mid week game, travel to Europe, etc)  

Specific to crown of helmet, my guess is that this type of hit has decreased in the college game when when they started this journey.  Why?  I agree...its not the 15 yd penalty...its the ejection.  I am not a huge fan of that either, because in most cases, there is no intent of malice by the striking player.  

What made it worse in the Pats/Giants game is that the team initiating a dangerous crown of helmet blow was also awarded with a fumble recovery.  There is almost an incentive to play in a wreckless fashion, and as I mentioned, the striker subjected himself to a neck injury risk.  But hey, safety first!!!

[Coach Nowlin]

Again, agree, cannot take player safety serious when they make players play on Sunday and again on Thursday 

no argument here 

but hey, they then get more time off from Thursday to following Sunday.......  SMH eye roll 

[Yuccaguy]

On 12/6/2025 at 1:25 PM, Bobref said:

Can we agree that the medical care provided by the teams now is light years better than it has been as recently as 20 yrs. ago?