Houston Texans switching from natural grass to artificial turf

It’s about time.

The Houston Texans are finally switching from natural grass to artificial turf after years of featuring one of the worst fields in the NFL on a regular basis.

Mark Berman of Fox 26 in Houston provides the scoop on this development, via Texans general manager Rick Smith.

Berman reports the team will use “Astroturf-type” surface the rest of the year, as Smith didn’t think the franchise could expect things to change with the current process: “We were not necessarily confident it would improve,” Smith said.

Just last weekend the Kansas City Chiefs were very upset with the “quality” of the field at NRG Stadium. Adam Teicher provided this picture of the horrible playing field, showing visible seams in the turf.

This isn’t a new thing, either.

When Jadeveon Clowney was lost for the season in his rookie campaign, he told then-teammate D.J. Swearinger that he stepped into “one of the holes” on the turf, per ESPN.com. Other prominent players, such as Wes Welker and former Texans punter Brett Hartmann have blamed the poor field conditions for their injuries, as well.

Perhaps this is the reason.

“The Texans’ field is grass, but it is removed in squares after each game. Those squares are placed together before each game, which often leads to an uneven playing surface with seams where the squares join together.”

Houston’s decision to finally switch to artificial turf is really the only responsible thing the organization can do in response to this epidemic of poor playing conditions.

As for the natural grass, all we can say is good bye and good riddance.