Did NFL lie about injury rates on artificial turf? NFLPA president rips Jerry Jones, league for using outlier data

Modified Apr 20, 2023 14:29 GMT

JC Tretter ripped Jerry Jones and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell

It's no secret that most NFL players don't like playing on turf. The NFLPA president has now come out and accused the league of using outlier data to back up their use of it.

Many stadiums have converted to turf recently and it appears to have caused more injuries. The league said that wasn't true and provided data on why not.

However, JC Tretter, the NFLPA president, was having none of it.

“In short, last year, the gap – much like the NFL’s credibility with players on this issue – was as wide as it has ever been, proving that (as the NFLPA suspected) 2021 was in fact an outlier. Now, 10 of the previous 11 years show the same exact thing — grass is a significantly safer surface than turf.”

He went on to say via the NFLPA website:

“The credibility the league has with the players on health and safety issues is virtually nonexistent. Instead of following the long-term data (which is clear on this issue), listening to players and making the game safer, the NFL used an outlier year to engage in a PR campaign to convince everyone that the problem doesn’t actually exist.”

He also specifically called out Jerry Jones. The Dallas Cowboys owner had said in 2022 that turf wasn't the cause of injuries:

"I would like to know what Jerry Jones thinks of this new information, given that he too, in November of 2022 said, “And it's not because we have the surface that we have. Our league stats don't see issues with the type of surface that we have as opposed to natural grass. We don't see issues. No facts bear that out."