NFL Player Says Brazil Had “the Worst Field I’ve Ever Played On”

Eagles players are still talking about the field conditions in Brazil, via Josh Tolentino at theScore.com:

Over the past several days, multiple players reiterated their frustrations regarding the slippery field to theScore. They were granted anonymity so they could speak freely.

“We shouldn’t have to be worrying about how much we’re going to slip on this big stage,” one player said. “We’re running full speed, playing our hearts out – and you just see guys slipping everywhere, left and right, no matter where you look. It was embarrassing.”

“That was the worst field I’ve ever played on,” another player said. “Never seen anything like it.”

God, I hate the NFL. The greatest lie they’ve ever told is that they care about player safety. The same league that brokered a concussion settlement after years of fighting in courts, but made sure in the fine print their lawyers negotiated they didn’t have to admit wrongdoing. I love football. Greatest sport in this entire country. But you read these quotes from players anonymously and on the record and you realize they even know they’re cattle waiting for slaughter. Even a referee got injured:

Field in Brazil is so bad that even refs are getting hurt. pic.twitter.com/LTKQEficKR

— Deadspin (@Deadspin) September 7, 2024

Unfortunately it’s going to take something like a grisly non-contact injury to a star player on these fields before the NFL takes safety seriously.

I know the Eagles grounds crew was back and forth trying to replicate the field at the Linc and Lambeau for months, but there’s probably only so much someone can manipulate a field when the $500 million soccer team has to play on it in less than a week. You can’t just take a field like the Linc where every detail is meticulously handled for years and replicate it in a different country, in a different climate, and for a totally different sport. The Linc is a state-of-the-art field that can handle an Arsenal vs. Liverpool friendly and two football games on the same weekend.

The NFL is expanding at the expense of the players and it sucks. Sure, players are getting rich off of it too, but they’re not close to sniffing what the owners, commissioner, and these governments are getting paid – and they’re doing less work.

Packers defensive tackle Kenny Clark echoed the same thing, via Brandon Carwile at USA Today:

“It was trash, man,” Clark said. “I’ve played in snow, I’ve played in rain, I ain’t never played on a surface like that.”

“There was like clay coming out of the ground. You got holes in the ground. It was a tough surface to play on.”

The game took place at Corinthians Arena in São Paulo, Brazil, marking the first time an NFL game was held in South America. Corinthians Arena is one of the country’s largest and most popular soccer stadiums, having hosted six matches during the 2014 World Cup.

“I can see how soccer players can play on it because you can slide pretty far,” Clark added, half-jokingly.

This is what the field looked like after the game:

Here’s a look at the turf in Brazil after tonight’s game and…. yeah. pic.twitter.com/Bjg93Hfou6

— Daire Carragher (@DaireCarragher) September 7, 2024

North Penn plays on a better field than this.

The best part is Roger Goodell wants to expand even more. Australia and Asia seem like they could be a possibility next year, according to GMFB:

“We feel like this game is destined to be global,” Goodell said when asked if Africa could be the next continent to host a game. “We expect to be in Asia soon. We expect to be in Australia soon. We’re going to make sure that our game is available around the globe. And I think the ownership has been great on that. They’ve passed a resolution where every team is obligated to play (outside the US). We’re going to have eight (international) games a year, minimum. And if we do get to an 18 and two (preseason) game season, we likely will see even more international games. And I hope someday we’ll be playing 16.”

The 2030 NFL season when it kicks off in Antarctica:

The field in Brazil looking like pic.twitter.com/t0PRd6MHs2

— BET99 Ontario (@BET99ON) September 7, 2024

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