Can you imagine living out your dream of being a professional football player, just to suffer a season ending injury, not once but TWICE in back to back seasons? Unfortunately, New York Giants wide receiver, Sterling Shepard, did not have to imagine. According to Patricia Traina, author of “Giants WR Sterling Shepard Reveals What Happened to His ACL Injury,” Shepard tore his ACL just three games after returning to football from his previous achilles rupture. It’s worth noting that both of Shepard’s injuries occurred on artificial turf. After Shepard’s second injury, he was asked for his opinion on artificial turf, particularly MetLife Stadium’s. He stated: “I know they tested it a couple of years back and said it was fine. I mean, I love playing …show more content…
All field sports utilize two main types of playing surfaces, artificial turf and natural grass. The “Turf Wars: Pros and Cons of Artificial Turf,” an article written by Lindsey Straus, a Harvard graduate and senior editor of MomsTEAM, and “For Better Health, Safety of Athletes Which Playing Surface Is Best?,” an article written by Dustin Pare, a sports journalism major at Arizona State University, both explain that artificial turf usually consists of polyethylene plastic grass that has a base of small rubber pellets made from recycled vehicle tires. Pare adds that “The first artificial turf-style field was introduced in the mid-1960s when ChemGrass was installed at the Houston Astrodome to replace the dying grass in the first domed stadium. The grass was later rebranded AstroTurf, and thus began the debate of natural grass versus turf playing surfaces.” While there’s been controversy revolving around the two playing surfaces since artificial turf was invented, the debate seems to gain interest when well-known players suffer major injuries, such as New York Jets star quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, who tore his achilles at Metlife Stadium in the first quarter of a game in September of