News Health & Safety Sports turf
Star NFL quarterback’s injury renews debate over artificial turf’s safety

A game-ending ankle injury to New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers has renewed debate over the safety of artificial turf.

Rodgers appeared to have caught his foot in the artificial turf and left the game afterwards.

David Bakhtiari, a former teammate of Rodgers with the Green Bay Packers, posted on social media, “How many more players have to get hurt on artificial turf? You care more about soccer players than us.”

Bakhtiari’s reference was to stadiums replacing artificial turf with natural grass for the coming World Cup of soccer. He suggested all National Football League stadiums replace artificial turf with natural grass to cut back on further player injuries.

SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles and AT&T Stadium in Dallas are both NFL stadiums with artificial turf but will be switching to natural grass playing surfaces to accommodate World Cup play.

X-rays of Rodgers’ ankle were negative, but the team is awaiting the results of an MRI to see if there was any tissue or ligament damage.