The Kansas City Chiefs and Chicago Bears played at Soldier Field to open the preseason on Saturday.
The turf looked more like a golf course after a 72-hole tournament.
To say there were divots would be kind. Place the blame on Elton John if you are looking for a fall guy.
The rock star played at Soldier Field last week and fans did a number on the field as John played his number of hits.
That Elton John concert last week destroyed the turf at Soldier Field. pic.twitter.com/fx4ey5CbV2
— Patrick Finley (@patrickfinley) August 13, 2022
The NFL said that this field met minimum testing standards. We clearly need to re-evaluate what is an acceptable surface for players to compete on. We need new testing metrics looking at the performance and safety of every field. The NFL can and should do better. pic.twitter.com/Vh1NDgLQBk
— JC Tretter (@JCTretter) August 13, 2022
The turf issue was noticed by Chicago kicker Cairo Santos long before kickoff.
“Especially Week 1, our first game of the season — I’ve seen better,” Santos said, via the Chicago Sun-Times. “It’s just what we have to deal with. The less of a problem you make it in your mind, it helps you overcome it and just go.”
Santos told reporters that the conditions of the turf are so consistently bad that he actually sought out a similar playing surface in the offseason while he was training in Florida. That seems like a pretty damning statement, and a problem the Bears should probably work to address.
“I was going to a turf field at a high school, which was perfect,” Santos said. “It was almost like, ‘OK. I’m getting too comfortable.’ So in my neighborhood, there’s a soccer field and the grass is a Bermuda grass. It’s real long. I was like, ‘OK. This is more like it.'”