Torrey Smith is angry about the ‘terrible’ grass at Heinz Field
Smith criticized Pittsburgh’s playing surface, complaining about its overuse.
The Pittsburgh Steelers host the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday night at Heinz Field, with the weather forecast calling for heavy rain set to fall on the stadium's natural grass. Baltimore receiver Torrey Smith is not happy about the playing surface, saying it is overused and generally not good for footing, per Jamison Hensley of ESPN.
“It’s terrible. They need to go ahead and put some turf up there or something,” Smith said Thursday. “Apparently the field gets a lot of use. That’s good for them [as a business], but it’s terrible for us [as players on both teams] playing this late [in the season]. I’m sure they’ll do a great job prepping it.”
A four-year veteran, Smith has had no issues in the past playing in Pittsburgh. In Baltimore’s trip to the Steel City this year, Smith amassed 63 yards and a touchdown. In 2013, Smith had 61 yards and in 2011 as a rookie, caught five passes for 71 yards and a score. In fairness, bad footing is a major problem for his style of play. Smith is a burner who wants to take the top off defenses, something which can be negated by turf flying up and soggy grass.
This is not the first time complaints have been made against the Heinz Field grass. Former NFLPA president Gene Upshaw called attention to the issue after a players survey in 2006 rated the field second-worst behind Gillette Stadium, which received FieldTurf soon thereafter, per FieldTurf.com.
“I actually sent the results to Dan Rooney because we were having dinner one night and he said his players all told him that they like that field,” Upshaw said. “I said, ‘I bet I get a different result than you get. Were you handing them their checks when you asked them?’ We would like to see them go to a different surface.”
There is even history with the turf and these two teams specifically. Last year, Pittsburgh defeated Baltimore 19-16 with the help of some bad field conditions. Ravens kicker Justin Tucker explained what a nightmare it is to kick in Pittsburgh, telling Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette the following:
[Ravens kicker Justin] Tucker said he works with the grounds crew at Baltimore's practice facility in Owings Mills, Md., purposefully destroying perfectly good sod in order to mimic conditions at Pittsburgh and Cleveland.
"It's tough on this field because the turf is so poor," Tucker said. "You can't really practice that type of kick on this turf."
On Saturday, with rain expected throughout the game, the field could certainly become a factor once again.
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