Natural grass versus artificial turf. Cold-weather grass versus warm-weather varieties. There’s plenty to debate within the NFL’s various playing surfaces, and there are also plenty of complaints to go around. In this ranking of the NFL playing surfaces, we acknowledge the debates. We acknowledge the differences. And we recognize the intricacies involved in preparing NFL fields every week.
“The bottom line is they all meet the NFL’s certification program every week,” Andy McNitt, Penn State University’s director of its Center for Sports Surface Research and the man in charge of testing NFL fields, tells SI.com. “All of our fields today versus 10 years ago are way better. The fields are in much better shape across the board.”
See the rankings here