The Seattle Seahawks were really not impressed with the condition of the playing surface at Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany.
Following the Seahawks’ 21-16 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Seattle head coach Pete Carroll spoke on the conditions of the playing surface.
The Allianz Arena during a match between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Seattle Seahawks in Munich, Germany, Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022.
(AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
“The field was hard on everybody,” Carroll said, according to The Seattle Times. “It was really, it was slick, I guess you could say. Everybody, both sides of the ball, I think in all positions, it had some effect. But remember that it’s the same [for both teams]. It’s not a factor that anyone is more behind it. It was just hard on everyone, and you could tell. I wish the field was firmer.”
On Tuesday, Carroll doubled down on his criticism of the field, saying that field was a “nightmare.”
“This field… it’s a nightmare because you don’t know when your footing is going to give away,” Carroll said on Seattle Sports 710. “The field felt wet and was soft on the top. You couldn’t really dig in. Our guys all changed their cleats to feel better about it.”
“The footing just isn’t there,” he continued. “So, you’re always kind of on pins and needles as you’re taking your footwork.
The first regular season NFL game in Germany was played at the home field of Bayern Munich, which has a grass playing surface.
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Seattle quarterback Geno Smith is sacked by Tampa Bay’s Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022, in Munich, Germany.
(AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
“Yeah, it was about what we expected, a soccer field,” Seattle quarterback Geno Smith said after the game. “It’s not going to be like what we’re seeing at home, obviously. So it wasn’t that bad. You just had to put your screw-in cleats, your studs in, and some longer spikes so that you could have better footing.
“Even though guys had them in, they still were slipping just because of the surface. I don’t think that played a part in what we were doing. I just think we needed to execute better.”
Head coach Pete Carroll of the Seattle Seahawks watches a practice at Saebener Strasse training ground on Nov. 10, 2022, in Munich, Germany.
(S. Mellar/FC Bayern via Getty Images)
Though the grass field in Germany evidently was not up to the standards of the Seahawks, there have been quite a few NFL players in recent weeks who have called for an end to turf fields.
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On Tuesday, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers called for all NFL teams to move to natural grass in the name of player safety.
“As much as I’ve enjoyed playing indoors over the years on turf, I do think it’s time to go all grass throughout the league,” Rodgers said. “I think you would see less of these noncontact injuries that we see on some of the surfaces, and I think that it’d be a good step in the right direction toward player safety to make the requirement for every field to be grass.”
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