5️⃣5️⃣ Days Until the Season Opener
Good morning, Bears fans!
Almost there! Rookies report to training camp on Saturday. Veterans a week from tomorrow. Which means this is the final week we won’t have the Bears in helmets until at least mid-January (and hopefully longer).
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Now let’s talk about Caleb and grass …
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Caleb Says Grass Is #WorthTheCost
The World Cup ended Sunday, but it’s leaving behind at least one big storyline that involves the Bears and the National Football League.
A wealth of NFL players, including Caleb Williams, watched as the host stadiums tore out the grass fields mandated by FIFA as fast as they’d installed them to return to artificial turf.
The players didn’t watch silently, either. A social media movement with the hashtag #WorthTheCost quickly grew with the Bears quarterback helping lead the way.
A quick dive into the issue before we look at what this means for Caleb and the Bears, who currently technically play on grass … though the Soldier Field surface has sometimes played as rough as Ashland during pothole season.
Seven NFL stadiums hosted World Cup matches and switched from turf to grass the past month: New York, Dallas, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Houston, New England and Seattle
Kansas City, Miami, San Francisco and Philadelphia normally play on grass or a hybrid, though FIFA’s surface was engineered specifically for the tournament and was also removed.
The current mix in the NFL is 14 stadiums with grass, 14 with turf and two (Green Bay and Philadelphia) with a hybrid mix of grass and turf. (Packers’ tight end Tucker Kraft tweeted that his team is "spoiled” with its setup.)
The Bills are switching from turf to grass as they open their new stadium this season. The Titans plan to stay with turf when their home opens in 2027.
Only two indoor stadiums have grass with Arizona and Las Vegas relying on the “tray” system that moves the field outdoors during the week.
The NFLPA reported that injury data collected from 2012 to 2018 showed that turf fields produced lower-body non-contact injuries at a 28 percent higher rate than grass. Non-contact foot and ankle injuries were sustained at a 68 percent higher clip.
Interestingly, a 2024 study from UT Southwestern found that grass fields produced worse concussion symptoms than turf surfaces.
The NFLPA reports that 92 percent of its 1,700 players prefer playing on grass. “You wake up in the morning feeling 10 times better after you played on grass compared to when you played on turf,” one player told The Athletic in 2023.
So what happens from here? Immediately, it’ll be interesting to see if the increased opposition from players causes any change in the outdoor stadiums that use turf. That’s New York, Seattle, New England, Carolina and Tennessee.
The indoor stadiums will be a tougher go as owners like the Jones family have pushed back on the NFLPA’s claims that indoor grass is possible with the right amount of money.
As for Caleb and the Bears? It seems silly to even bring up the question when the team can’t even fully commit to which state they’re building in.
We also know the McCaskey family wants to be cost-conscious with whatever ends up being built, which would seemingly eliminate the tray system.
Two more pieces of evidence against grass:
None of the proposals floated over the last four years have mentioned or shown grass.
Bears minority owner Pat Ryan just footed the bill for Northwestern’s new stadium, which will feature artificial turf.
The wild card here, though, is a quarterback with the potential to be one of the league’s biggest stars using the platform he has. If the Bears finally get their act (and plan) together, things could get interesting.
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Worth Your Time
Pat Finley sets goals for all seven rookies. (Sun-Times)
Phil Thompson examines whether Jordan van den Berg can crack the defensive line rotation. (Tribune)
Jerry Markarian on why Malik Muhammad is the Bears rookie with the best chance to surprise everybody. (Sports Illustrated)
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