MetLife Stadium has developed a reputation among NFL players as a dangerous place to play, ever since new turf was installed in 2020, and when FIFA announced that the 2026 World Cup final will take place on the field in East Rutherford, New Jersey, former defensive end Chris Long was quick to speak out.
Long, whose 11-year NFL career spanned 2008 to 2018, posted his concerns on X, formerly Twitter, with a sarcastic comment about MetLife's negative reputation and the highly paid players who will represent their countries at the World Cup.
A number of players have been injured at MetLife Stadium since 2020, including Nick Bosa (ACL tear), Aaron Rodgers (Achilles tear), Jabrill Peppers (ACL tear) and many more.
"Let's bring the most expensive ACLs on the planet to met life [sic]. Brilliant," Long wrote.
Let’s bring the most expensive ACLs on the planet to met life. Brilliant. https://t.co/6ek9oel9F8
— chris long (@JOEL9ONE) February 4, 2024
Former NFL offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz responded that the World Cup players will get to compete on grass across the board, noting that it "must be nice."
Newsweek on Monday reached out via email to representatives for MetLife Stadium. In a direct message on X, Long confirmed to Newsweek that he was being sarcastic when he called the decision "brilliant."
As part of the pitch for FIFA to bring the 2026 World Cup to North America, the federation demanded that every stadium have natural grass fields in place. In an interview with Sports Business Journal in November, turfgrass research professor John Rogers said the project of transforming turf into natural grass is "easily a multimillion-dollar investment" over "multiple years," adding that the project "runs the risk of a failure."
"We'll be basically asking that [grass] to survive, not thrive," Rogers told the outlet. "Why? Because we don't have a bunch of sunlight."
The United States men's national team will start its run in Los Angeles, playing a group-stage game at SoFi Stadium before playing two games at Lumen Field in Seattle. Like MetLife, SoFi Stadium and Lumen Field will need to replace their turf surfaces with natural grass before the start of the tournament.
Calls to get rid of turf fields picked up this year in the wake of Rodgers' season-ending Achilles injury in Week 1 at MetLife. After Dolphins linebacker Jaelin Phillips tore his Achilles, Dolphins running back Raheem Mostert (who tore his MCL at MetLife) told reporters that "something has to change" in the wake of the rash of injuries.
"Very first game in the first series," Mostert said, referencing Rodgers. "It just sucks.[...]We've got to do something about this turf and this playing surface. Obviously it's still a major problem.
In October, on the New Heights podcast, then-Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce made an impassioned plea to the NFL to stop putting careers in jeopardy.
"We need to get rid of turf altogether," Jason said. "And I don't want to hear that it's an indoor stadium. They make UV lights. You can grow grass inside. There are frickin' pot barns down the street that are growing mountains of f****** pot. We can grow grass indoors. I don't want to hear this nonsense."
The 2022 FIFA World Cup took place in Qatar. Lionel Messi and Argentina held off France in a dramatic penalty shootout that decided the winner, giving Messi the first World Cup victory in his storied soccer career.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Tom Westerholm is a Sports & Culture Reporter for Newsweek. Prior to joining Newsweek, he was the Boston Celtics beat ... Read more
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
