Deebo Samuel and Odell Beckham Jr. are divisional rivals. OBJ’s Los Angeles Rams knocked Deebo’s 49ers out of the NFC Championship a couple of weeks ago. But Samuel was clearly upset when Beckham had to leave Sunday’s Super Bowl with a non-contact left knee injury with about four minutes left in the first half.
Shortly after the injury, Samuel tweeted out some well wishes for OBJ before voicing his opinion on the NFL’s use of turf fields.
49ers defensive end Nick Bosa also shared a link to a petition promoting the banning of turf fields, though it's worth noting that the petition is sponsored by a grass seed company. Bosa tore his ACL on artificial turf on Sept. 20, 2020 against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium. Two plays after Bosa's injury, 49ers defensive lineman Solomon Thomas suffered a season-ending ACL injury. In the same game, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo (ankle) and running back Raheem Mostert (knee) also went down with injuries.
Samuel and Bosa's sentiments on turf fields were also echoed by former 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis.
According to Max Molski of NBC Sports, 16 of the NFL’s 32 teams currently use artificial turf as their playing surface. That includes SoFi Stadium, which is one of three venues to use Hellas Matrix Turf along with the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium and Houston Texans’ NRG Stadium.
In September 2020, NFL Players Association President JC Tretter issued a letter citing research from the previous decade that outlined the benefits of playing on natural grass.
“Based on NFL injury data collected from 2012 to 2018, not only was the contact injury rate for lower extremities higher during practices and games held on artificial turf, NFL players consistently experienced a much higher rate of non-contact lower extremity injuries on turf compared to natural surfaces,” Tretter’s letter reads. “Specifically, players have a 28% higher rate of non-contact lower extremity injuries when playing on artificial turf. Of those non-contact injuries, players have a 32% higher rate of non-contact knee injuries on turf and a staggering 69% higher rate of non-contact foot/ankle injuries on turf compared to grass.”
According to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport on Monday, Beckham tore his ACL:
With half the league on turf and the other on grass, it would take a significant commitment from teams and the NFL to make a complete overhaul. It seems like the NFLPA has a clear stance on the matter and now Beckham’s injury could bring the conversation into the spotlight once again.
Beckham scored the game’s first touchdown Sunday and hauled in three catches for 52 yards before his injury. But Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp and Aaron Donald rallied the Rams in a 23-20 Super Bowl LVI victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.
