A heat wave in Nashville combined with the field at Nissan Stadium to create one of the most spectacular events on the football field, Sunday – as the Philadelphia Eagles and Tennessee Titans square off in Week 2.
As temperatures began to climb above 95 degrees, the rink itself measured 157 degrees — enough to melt the middle of the shoe’s soles, prompting players to spray their feet with water in an attempt to maintain the shoe’s integrity.
Not only did the players see their tops physically melt on the field, but the heat changed the composition of the cleats. Jordan Mailata said he rolled his ankle twice on Sunday – and they believe it may have been because the purple plastic softened due to the heat.
Conditions were so severe that Eagles head coach Nick Siriani got an IV to stave off dehydration from standing on the surface for just 90 minutes. Players have struggled to stay cool, and weather-related incidents are raising more questions about player safety, especially when it comes to playing field.
Artificial grass of all types absorbs heat, but field grass is especially terrible. Natural grass emits heat through evaporative cooling, but both the grass itself and the tire plant absorb heat energy and have no way to get rid of it. That is why the field temperature was 60 degrees higher than the air temperature on Sunday. It is considered normal For the playground.
“I never thought about how hot it would be if the stadium was a grass field. (The heat) just sits there and comes up to you,” Mailata said. We have to address that. That’s why we want to create a standard of play where all grass pitches in the league don’t put players in dangerous positions.
Something had to change long ago. The idea that NFL athletes are being pressured to play with melted cleats is unacceptable. Either the field surface needs to be changed to cool things down, or the league needs to force teams to add cooling technology to their playing surfaces to prevent this from happening.
