The World Cup is rolling out grass at AT&T Stadium and CeeDee is rallying for Cowboys to keep it come football season.
The World Cup is back on American soil and Dallas is one of the cities set to host the global phenomenon at its AT&T Stadium.
While the stadium is fully equipped to host some of the biggest games on the gridiron, a special request was made to get it ready for the other type of football: install grass. Massive efforts have gone into making this a reality, with photos from inside Jerry World showcasing a pinkish hue from the lights helping grow the grass in time for play.
It is a grand undertaking for only nine matches to take place in what is dubbed "Dallas Stadium" for the tournament. However, one Cowboy is hoping that it can stick around when the NFL season gets underway.
On his Instagram, Dallas' star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb shared a post that stated that 92 percent of NFL players preferred playing on grass over artificial turf.
"Please @nfl," wrote Lamb alongside the post.
While Lamb is the only Cowboy to share his thoughts publicly, it is almost certain that others in Dallas share his sentiments based on the staggering percentage that was reported.
Ever since the days of AstroTurf, artificial surfaces have brought concerns of increased injuries. Even though the technology has advanced from these early forms, the fear of suffering a career-altering mishap looms.
And these qualms hold some weight. The NFL revealed that from 2012 to 2018 there was a 28 percent higher rate of non-contact lower body injuries on turf compared to grass, including a 32 percent increase in knee injuries.
Despite all the support for a change, Cowboys' owner Jerry Jones is not buying into making the switch permanent.
“No,” remarked Jones when asked if Dallas would implement grass.
“We have more flexibility with the way we handle our surface at the stadium. We have no belief that it’s any safer to play on grass. The turf, actually like many things, improves the economics of being able to play this game and our players are the biggest benefactor of all. They get the best benefit of when we do good things financially, the players benefit. So I’m working for you, baby, if you’re a player.”
While it seems that Lamb and other potential Cowboys will not see their hopes realized in the upcoming season, the grass-versus-turf debate could be a hot topic when the next Collective Bargaining Agreement comes into play.
For now, the only footballers getting to set foot onto grass inside of AT&T Stadium will be those that play in a number of matches that is only around half of an NFL schedule.
