How Bad Was Soldier Field Grass?
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When Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid talks, it always seems to be with a twinkle in his eye.
Asked after Saturday's preseason loss to the Bears at Soldier Field if he was worried about the chopped-up, worn-down grass his team had to play on in Chicago, Reid answered as only he could. It as a great deal like someone shaking their head yes but saying "no."
"No, no," he said. "A lot better than my high school field was. Not much."
The field had visible chunks taken from it and the caretakers from the Chicago Park District who maintain it were ladling sand into divots all pregame and even at halftime. Whether the Elton John concert last week did damage or it has been some of the Chicago Fire soccer matches that did it, the field is in poor condition.
How poor?
On Aug. 4, Major League Soccer announced the New York City FC match against the Fire was being moved from Soldier Field to the Fire's other home field at near south suburban SeatGeek Stadium, entirely because the field was in such poor condition.
"After consulting with the League office, it was determined that a change in venue was necessary for this match to ensure that both teams are competing in conditions that are consistent with League standards," Fire FC president of business operations Ishwara Glassman Chrein announced in a statement released by the team.
So Soldier Field was in such poor condition that the soccer team wouldn't play there, but the NFL did.
JC Tretter, president of the National Football League Players Association, blasted the field conditions on Twitter.
"NFL said that this field met minimum testing standards," Tretter said via Twitter. "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."
Justin Fields emerged with a scratch on the back of his leg from a cleat catching him but no injuries from the field.
Still, he acknowledged what was obvious to the naked eye from the stands to fans.
"I mean, it's kind of always been like that," Fields said. "It was definitely better than the Family Fest earlier this week. I'm just glad it was better than what it was earlier this week because earlier this week it wasn't the best."
That was Tuesday during the team's workout there, the day before kicker Cairo Santos blasted the field conditions and defensive end Robert Quinn laughed about how bad it always is.
"I mean, to be honest, last year I used our home field as an advantage because I knew how our grass was," Fields said. "I knew other teams didn't know how it was, so I kind of used it to my advantage running and stuff like that, using the long spikes and stuff like that. So yeah."
Bears coach Matt Eberflus chose to punt on the matter and he had a convenient yet legitimate excuse. He wasn't here when it was poor in the past, so he can't compare it to other years.
"I don't know personally, I'm new here, so I don't really know all the situations, but I know the guys (park district) are trying to do their best, and the playing surface was passed by the NFL for us to be on.
"I thought it was firm and it was good. So that's where we'll leave it at."
The positive part of all this is the Bears don't have to play there again until Sept. 11 in the season opener.
Then again, there are two soccer matches scheduled to be held there yet this season and one is before the opener on Aug. 27 against Montreal FC.
Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven
