Giants owner wants player input on playing surface at MetLife Stadium

MetLife Stadium, the home of the NFL's New York Giants and New York Jets, is slated to get a new playing surface following the 2022 season. It was initially planned to be another artificial, synthetic surface, but Giants owner John Mara said this weekend that he is going to speak with his players and get their input on what the new surface should be.

Said Mara in a statement to the New York Daily News:

“The next field in the stadium is the subject of ongoing discussion between the Jets, the stadium and us,” the spokesman relayed on Mara’s behalf. “John has heard from the players and other experts about playing surfaces as part of his roles on the player safety and health committee, competition committee and management council. “He expects to have conversations with our players as we move along in the process of selecting a new field."

This is a pretty significant development for two reasons.

The first is that Mara — or any NFL owner — is under no pressure or directive to consult with players on that sort of decision.

The second is that the NFL and several of its owners — including Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones — have argued that there is no difference in safety between grass and artificial surfaces.

The NFLPA disputes those claims.

Playing surfaces have been a big topic of discussion this season as knee and leg injuries continue to mount, with several current and former players calling for the league to only use natural grass playing surfaces. 

Those calls started to increase after Giants wide receiver Sterling Shepard tore his ACL at MetLife Stadium on a non-contact injury earlier this season.