Through the woodland, through the valley
Comes a horseman wild and free
Tilting at the windmills passing
Who can the brave young horseman be?
He is wild, but he is mellow
He is strong but he is weak
He is cruel but he is gentle
He is wise but he is meek.
So went the first eight lines of Gordon Lightfoot's 1972 song Don Quixote, the title song of his album of the same name.
Which brings us to Julian Edelman and his arguably justified, but totally quixotic, crusade to end artificial turf in the NFL.
Why is it quixotic?
Because the NFL's new "partners" — FanDuel and DraftKings — would never let it happen.
And why is that?
Because they, along with all the other sports books, take enormous action from bettors wagering against teams that play their home games on artificial turf whenever they have to play a road game on natural grass — or "as a visitor on the grass," as Benjamin Lee Eckstein of America's Line likes to refer to such situations — and against teams that play their home games on natural grass whenever they have to play a road game on artificial turf — "as a visitor on the carpet," as per Eckstein.
(There is also a third construct along these lines: "As a visitor in cold weather," which arises when a warm-weather or domed-stadium has to play on the road at a northern, outdoor venue in November or later — which now happens more frequently thanks to the 17-game regular-season schedule, and will happen even more frequently in the event of an 18-game schedule.)
But don't try to convince Julian Edelman of this (the late John Madden was not a big fan of artificial turf either — so at least Edelman is in some good company).
While the abominable and detestable "AstroTurf 8" — or the "Texas Turf" used at the original Texas Stadium (where there was a hole in the roof so God could watch his team) — is, and should be, gone for good (although it does survive on some college fields and more commonly on high school fields), the evidence that such new surfaces as FieldTurf, or "sissy turf" as its detractors call it, causes more injuries than natural grass (such as "DD GrassMaster," used at Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial Field) is hotly debatable — especially recently:
"As recently as 2019, the rate of such injuries was notably higher on artificial turf fields than grass. But the difference began narrowing in 2020, and by 2021, the numbers were almost the same. Artificial surfaces had an incident rate of .042 per 100 in 2021, while the rate for natural surfaces was .041 per 100. That ratio 'replicated' during the 2022 preseason, NFL executive vice president of communications Jeff Miller said last fall."
And what would be done about the 11 teams — the Cowboys, Lions, Vikings, Falcons, Saints, Rams, Cardinals, Colts, Texans, Raiders, and Chargers — who play their home games either indoors or at a retractable-roof venue? Is it worth the havoc that would be wrought just for a 2% reduction in injuries?
One of the most compelling things about football is figuring out how teams will handle surface changes, indoor-to-outdoor (and vice versa) changes, and warm-weather to cold-weather changes.
Take these away and the NFL is no better than the NBA or the NHL.
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