The Bears and Chiefs opened their preseason on a less-than-stellar surface Saturday at Soldier Field, drawing the ire of NFLPA president JC Tretter, who called for the NFL « to re-evaluate what is an acceptable surface for players to compete on. »
CHICAGO — The playing surface at Soldier Field was the subject of criticism throughout the Bears’ 19-14 preseason win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday.
Filled with noticeable divots and patches of missing grass, the field conditions became so noticeable that JC Tretter, the president of the NFL Players Association, took to Twitter to question why the league allowed Bears and Chiefs players to perform on a surface in such a poor visible state.
« The NFL said that this field met minimum testing standards, » Tretter tweeted. « We clearly need to re-evaluate what is an acceptable surface for players to compete on. We need new testing metrics looking at the performance and safety of every field. The NFL can and should do better. »
The Bears hosted their lone game of the preseason eight days after Elton John played a concert at Soldier Field, which left the grass visibly damaged with lines of missing turf spanning the length of the field.
