Sam LaPorta Indicates Desire for Change at Ford Field

The FIFA World Cup being hosted in North America has added to a debate about playing surfaces in NFL stadiums.

There were new playing surfaces installed at the stadiums that were utilized for the world's biggest soccer tournament, with FIFA putting in natural grass for the soccer games. This added a new layer to what has become a growing concern surrounding the artificial turf playing surfaces that 16 NFL teams play on.

The NFL Players' Association has been adamant about their desire for every NFL team to utilize natural grass playing surfaces, citing the health risks that come with playing on this artificial fields. On Friday, Detroit Lions tight end Sam LaPorta joined the movement with a social media post.

LaPorta shared a post from the NFLPA with #WorthTheCost, which has been the sentiment from the organization urging the NFL to make the change to grass fields. The tight end does have a connection to this, as he suffered a knee injury as a rookie in the team's regular season finale when it appeared as though his foot got stuck in the Ford Field turf.

The NFLPA released a statement ahead of the start of the World Cup outlining the benefits and desire to moving to natural grass, and indicated that 92 percent of all players who participated in a study want to see the NFL make the change.

“I think one thing is understanding what our players care about, and there is something there that the data hasn’t been able to spit back out at us," NFLPA executive director J.C. Tretter said during an interview in May. "We polled 1,700 players, 92 percent say they want grass over turf. There is something about the feeling of being on grass, your body feels different. I think if you ask the coaches, just standing on grass versus standing on turf for three hours feels different. There is something there that impacts the body.”

The 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off in one month, and work is underway to install fresh grass surfaces in NFL stadiums for the world's top soccer players.

NFL players have spent years advocating for safer, high-quality grass fields at their place of work, but when the World Cup is… pic.twitter.com/QPxoF0w3ay
— NFLPA (@NFLPA) May 11, 2026

The Lions are one of the 16 teams in the NFL that utilize artificial turf, having most recently changed their surface from a slit-film turf to a monofilment version that is considered to be a safer alternative prior to the 2023 season.

As a team that plays indoors, the Lions would have a more difficult time maintaining natural grass. However, two teams in the NFL play on grass surfaces in a dome, those being the Las Vegas Raiders and Arizona Cardinals.

LaPorta is entering the final year of his rookie contract and has become a vital part of the team's offense. As a second-round pick of the team in the 2023 Draft, he set the NFL record for receptions by a rookie tight end in his first year.

In total, LaPorta has logged 186 catches for 2,104 yards and 20 touchdowns through his first three seasons.

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