smithmal Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 With the beavy of injuries already adding up after two games, somebody made mention in the recent injury thread that we haven't even entered the section of the season when FedEx's field gets bad. The issues with the field over the years are too numerous to list (RGIII injury comes to mind immediately though) but I've always wondered, why is the quality of FedEx field so routinely craptastic year in and year out? 1. Is it the grass they choose (which I believe is a warm weather Bermuda?) or the quality of the soil? 2. Is it the quality of their groundskeeping staff? 3. Is it the type of numbers of non-NFL game events that take place at the Stadium which degrade its condition? 4. Is it the lack of resources (money and labor) that Skin's Upper Management allocates to the field each year? Most likely it is a combinatoin of all of these things.... I found this article which discusses how NFL fields are surveyed on a game by game basis to ensure that each meets the NFL Standard before play can start: https://www.si.com/nfl/2015/10/01/nfl-stadium-turf-grass-rankings Basically its a combination of surveying the field's hardness using a 2.5kg weight drop test. Each NFL field needs to score under 100 for the hardness test. If you're interested in how this is done check out the video below: The same article linked above also ranks each NFL field from best to worst which was achieved by surveying players in the NFLPA. FedEx Field scored a 26 out of 30 (as I said craptacular). It's possible since this survey was done in 2015 the Redskins could rank even worse now. In terms of the review of FedEx Field the article stated: "The warm-weather Latitude 36 Bermuda grass has certainly seen its share of issues in the past. The warm-weather turf has turned to nearly all hard dirt during past winters, a process easily navigated through with money allocated for resodding. A wealth of turf farms in the area should mean that Washington has a better natural field, but the fact they don’t is on the ownership. We saw major problems in 2013 for the Redskins and the Seahawks, which were remedied by new turf later that year, but there's still a long way to go for FedEx Field's field." In terms of the best fields at the top are the warm weather stadium locations as you'd expect due to their ability to have grass that recovers very quickly (Arizona, Miami, Tampa, San Diego), but there are also cold weather stadiums that rank very high (Denver, Green Bay and Cleveland) that use cool weather grasses (Kentucky Bluegrass, etc) or advanced field technologies (underfield heating systems, Desso GrassMaster System (weaving artficial grass into predominantly natural grass). My understanding is that FedEx Field is generally resodded mid-season every year at some point in November (typically during the bye week if they can manage it) which costs $100k - $125k) but if you've ever put down sod before, you know that you need time for proper root attachement which I can't see occurring if you sod a field midseason. You basically would put it down and then immediately get it chewed to all hell from play in the following game. In any event, I thought this might be a good thread to add to the file folder of information in case any one was wondering about what the NFL does to qualify fields before each game and what other teams do to maintain their field's quality throughout the season. If there are any Soil or Turf Management experts that would like to chime in, I'd love to read your thoughts on why FedEx field is so craptastic year in and year out and what you would do to improve it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slinky Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 cause the stadium is probably built on some grave/burial site Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hogdirty Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 😐 you might need to take a break from this. Field science is real but come on dude, The Raiders have been playing on an actual baseball field for years Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smithmal Posted September 18, 2019 Author Share Posted September 18, 2019 13 minutes ago, hogdirty said: 😐 you might need to take a break from this. Field science is real but come on dude, The Raiders have been playing on an actual baseball field for years Thats apples vs oranges.... LA weather does not equal DC weather. The Raiders can get away with playing on a baseball field b/c of the weather conditions. Meanwhile we hit sub-freezing weather in November which kills the grass/field conditions causing significant injuries to both home and visting team's players and once again making our team's Upper Management look inept (which they are quite frequently). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BleedBNG Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 Hey, when you've got a big yacht to upkeep you don't have the time or money to be bothered with some stupid field. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsFTW Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 But he wants to win... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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