The Steelers today confirmed a Post-Gazette report three days ago that they will stick with “natural grass” at Heinz Field next season.
“The majority of our players have told us that they prefer natural grass to any artificial surface,” said club president Art Rooney II in a statement today, "and grass is also the preference of our coaches and athletic staff. We also discussed this with the University of Pittsburgh officials to make sure everyone is comfortable moving forward.’’
i think they are dumping the DD grass master… its gonna be all real and supposedly not the shit grown in florida… real REAL grass…like the shit you find in ur backyard. obviously without crab grass and weeds thou.
they are sacrificing strength for drainage. they need more dirt base so the grass can take strong roots… i’m not expert but i worked grounds crew at a golf course for a few years so i know a lil. right now heinz is too much sand.
on a side note. i talked to a coach from Central and he said while the grass looked brown on TV, the playing surface was very ideal by the 4th game of the WPIAL championships and footing was not a problem. A lot of time when you see guys slip in NFL games is because they dont wear long cleats for fear they will catch and tear up their knee… so its really more their fault for bad footing than it is the surface. the miami game was a complete screw up on the part of the NFL, they pretty much forced the steelers to lay sod down because they wanted the grass to look pretty for MNF. I dont understand why it has to look like a pretty game board…its a football field, it should be tore up and muddy, thats steeler football!
fuck you… the field belongs to allegheny county… the steelers can get their own training complex… or incase u forgot that was part of the deal when we got a new stadium. pitt would play at heinz and the steelers would use pitt’s training complex on the southside.
as a tax payer of allgheny county…which some of you are not, i dont not have a problem with the high schools using heinz two days, one for the city league and one day for the wpial, each year. i mean come on, they are kids…for a lot of them thats gonna be the biggest game they’ll ever play and to do it where some of their heroes play… i’m all for it.
ya i agree. its an awesome oppotunity for the kids and its tradition. it shouldnt be hard to not schedule pitt, steelers both home on the weekend that the highschool kids play there. that way the field isnt being tore up friday night, saturday afternoon and then again on sunday.
exactly, that is how the deal got done… the county approved PNC because it gets used 81 home dates a year… do people really think they were gonna approve a football stadium that would get used 10-12 times a year? no and the steelers knew this and formed a joint venture with pitt to get the deal done… in reality it backfired on pitt football but greatly helped the basketball team. everyone talks about how cramped pitt stadium was… HAHA go watch a game in ann arbor or south bend and then talk about cramped seating.
looking back… they should have revamped three rivers to suit the luxury needs of the NFL… heinz field blows, the atmosphere, the noise, the ugly seats…everything… its sucks. i had way more leg room at three rivers. now i’m not a tall guy and my knee is crushed against the cup holder at heinz field.