{"id":780834,"date":"2026-02-27T22:40:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T22:40:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/780834\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T22:40:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T22:40:15","slug":"its-the-turf-aaron-rodgers-once-called-borderline-unplayable-how-will-the-steelers-fix-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/780834\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s the turf Aaron Rodgers once called \u2018borderline unplayable\u2019 \u2014 how will the Steelers fix it?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The field turf at Acrisure Stadium, which Aaron Rodgers called \u201cborderline unplayable\u201d<\/a> in October, is once again under scrutiny, and the Pittsburgh Steelers are making changes.<\/p>\n

In the NFLPA report cards obtained by The Athletic<\/a>, the Steelers received an F-minus for their field conditions \u2014 one of several poor grades. The playing surface, which the Steelers share with the University of Pittsburgh, has been criticized off and on by players for years.<\/p>\n

It came to a head this year after a Week 6 game against the Cleveland Browns. Kicker Chris Boswell\u2019s foot got stuck in the turf and his ankle rolled when he attempted a 54-yard field goal. Also during the game, special teams captain Miles Killebrew sustained a non-contact, season-ending knee injury. Steelers NFLPA rep Cameron Heyward suggested that the conditions played a role in the injury.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, it was s\u2014,\u201d Heyward said when asked about the conditions. \u201cI lost one of my teammates.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shortly after the game, the NFLPA contacted the NFL to express \u201coutrage,\u201d an NFLPA source confirmed to The Athletic earlier this year.<\/p>\n

Steelers president and owner Art Rooney II told The Athletic on Friday that Acrisure Stadium will be resurfaced for the 2026 season with Tahoma 31 bermudagrass. (Previously, Kentucky bluegrass sodded the field.)<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously we had one game this year where the game was not at a playing level where we would want it to be, so we started to explore what other options might be,\u201d Rooney said. \u201cIt\u2019s worked well in some other places that have a similar climate. We\u2019re hopeful it will work here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Developed by the turfgrass experts at Oklahoma State University, Tahoma 31 is \u201cup to 75 percent more cold tolerant than other bermudagrass varieties\u201d according to the official site for the surface. It also has a low winter kill rate and better drought resistance than other grasses. More than 50 golf courses, football fields, and soccer complexes use Tahoma 31.<\/p>\n

The Steelers and the University of Pittsburgh have been sharing a field since what\u2019s now called Acrisure Stadium opened in 2001. Especially early in the stadium\u2019s history, the surface experienced some issues. Most famously, during a 2007 game against the Miami Dolphins delayed by severe weather, a punt landed in the mud and stuck. The game was later nicknamed the \u201cMud Bowl.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think our field, by and large, has been fine,\u201d Rooney said. \u201cWe acknowledge we did have one game this year that was below standard, but that hasn\u2019t been the case for a long time. When we first opened the building, we had some issues. We had the one famous game where the ball plugged in the mud. I think unfortunately since then, our field has had a rough reputation. I think, by and large, it hasn\u2019t been a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to regular overlap with the University of Pittsburgh, the stadium also hosts four high school football playoff games annually. Rooney said there has been no discussion about reconsidering that arrangement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s something major there we need to correct in terms of Pitt playing there or the high school games,\u201d Rooney said. \u201cWe re-sod, basically, three times a year. We have the grow lights now. There are a lot of things that I think help. The bottom line for us is the players prefer playing on grass. We\u2019re going to try to keep playing on grass.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to the failing grade for the field, the Steelers received an F for treatment of families, an F for travel, an F-minus for locker room and a D-minus for ownership. General manager Omar Khan received a C-plus. The training room, where T.J. Watt\u2019s lung was punctured<\/a> during a dry-needling session, got a C.<\/p>\n

Some of the organization\u2019s positive grades came in food\/dining (B-minus), nutritionist\/dietician (B), training staff (B-plus), strength coaches (B-minus), position coaches (B) and special teams coordinator (A-minus). Former offensive coordinator Arthur Smith received a B-plus and former defensive coordinator Teryl Austin got a C.<\/p>\n

The only solid A the Steelers received was for former head coach Mike Tomlin, who stepped down in January.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, the NFL won a grievance in which an arbitrator ruled that the NFLPA violated the CBA by publishing the report cards, because doing so was deemed to be \u201cdisparaging to NFL clubs and individuals.\u201d When the NFLPA leaked the report cards to the media, three members of the NFL\u2019s legal counsel (Larry Ferazani, Sean Casey and Meghan Carroll) sent a confidential memo to league chief executives, club presidents and club counsel.<\/p>\n

That document, obtained by The Athletic\u2019s Mike Jones, reads in part: \u201cAs previously advised, the admissions made by the union and its counsel during the grievance hearing \u2014 including that: (i) the Reports Cards are \u201cunion speech\u201d; (ii) the union cherry-picks which topics and responses to include and exclude; (iii) the players have no role in drafting the Report Cards commentary; (iv) the union chooses which anonymous player quotations to include and which ones to leave out; and (v) the union determines how much weight to allocate to each topic before assigning the \u201cgrades\u201d \u2014 confirmed that the Report Cards are neither reliable nor scientifically valid.\u201d<\/p>\n

The memo called the report cards \u201cagenda driven\u201d and recommended that teams prioritize feedback and information provided directly by players. Asked about the report cards being released and his response to the broader criticisms, Rooney declined to comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The field turf at Acrisure Stadium, which Aaron Rodgers called \u201cborderline unplayable\u201d in October, is once again under…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":780835,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2055],"tags":[7,6,520,57,2360,426],"class_list":{"0":"post-780834","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh-steelers","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-nfl","10":"tag-pittsburgh","11":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","12":"tag-pittsburghsteelers","13":"tag-steelers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116145004722577528","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/780834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=780834"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/780834\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/780835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=780834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=780834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=780834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}