If you've ever played any recreational sport on astroturf, you probably know how rough of a surface it is. If you've ever been or had a kid around it, you may just know how much it hurts to be tackled on it. It offers none of the real-life cushioning that dirt and even mud creates. And sure, because it's something artificial and man-made, we can be reasonably certain that the stray rock isn't going to pop up under the foot of a player, but at what cost?
Caleb Williams recently tweeted a photo of a real grass soccer field being tended by a professional with the caption “Why can't we have this”. Williams didn't elaborate on the tweet, but we can take the implication at face value. Why can't US stadiums and professional fields provide the real grass surface that athletes obviously prefer? The real answer is as infuriating as you may think.
#worththecost pic.twitter.com/UxVcFc4lr2
— Caleb Williams (@CALEBcsw) July 17, 2026
A familiar argument gains another supporter
Williams joins hundreds of professionals before him in publicly calling for grass fields. George Kittle also publicly called out the NFL for allowing artificial grass fields in the first place. It's insulting that MetLife stadium would install and pay for upkeep on natural grass for hosting the World Cup, but not for the tenants that reside there and play all of their home games.
There's something unnatural about the look and feel of the artificial grass. It's almost too perfect. It's almost as though it's so fake that it's perpetually in that state. But that brings us to the final point here.
These grass fields only accomplish one thing: saving billionaires money. Those same billionaires that collected tax funds to build the stadium. Those same billionaires that don't wish to pay for the upkeep of real grass fields. Those billionaires that care so much about their players that they turn a blind eye to the hundreds of studies showing that artificial grass is simply more dangerous. Those same billionaires that find it appropriate to charge $10 for a kid just trying to have a hot dog at his first game.
In a world where the NFL is home to the most wealthy teams on planet earth, where the average cost of an NFL game ticket cost about as much as a down payment on a small house, it's time for the owners to just pay it. It would be a league-wide popular decision, and nobody would be upset about it. Artificial grass is never the way. It's that simple.
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