July 19, 2026, 4:15 p.m. PT
San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle continued his advocacy for grass fields across all 30 NFL stadiums during the FIFA World Cup Final on Sunday.
Kittle, who attended Spain’s 1-0 extra time victory over Argentina at MetLife Stadium, took to social media for the second time during the World Cup to point out the grass fields inside NFL stadiums that use field turf for NFL games. FIFA requires all stadiums to use natural grass for the World Cup.
The first time Kittle called for a similar requirement in the NFL was during the United States Men’s National Team’s opener against Paraguay at SoFi Stadium.
“Also this grass looks great on Sofi’s field…” Kittle wrote in a tweet on June 12. “Wonder if we could get that all season.”
He had a similar sentiment from MetLife Stadium on Sunday and posted about it twice, once in the first half and once in the second half:
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Kittle wasn’t the only NFL player to point out the successful use of grass playing surfaces in all the NFL stadiums that World Cup matches were played in. The continued public harping on the point from players is a sign that the required conversion of turf fields to grass will be a significant negotiation point for players in the next collective bargaining agreement.
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