Ravens begin removing turf for switch back to natural grass

Shalise Manza Young
·Columnist

While many teams, particularly teams in colder-weather areas, have switched to FieldTurf in recent years, the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday began the process of tearing up the turf at M&T Bank Stadium so natural grass can be re-installed.

Ravens president Dick Cass told the Baltimore Sun in December that the team would be going back to natural grass in 2016; when the stadium initially opened in 1998, games were played on grass, but turf was installed after the 2002 season because of difficulties maintaining the grass and keeping it growing year-round.

The Ravens had planned to replace their six-year old turf surface this year, but after polling players, and in part due to the influence of head coach John Harbaugh, the team decided to go back to grass.

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“To me, it’s Baltimore,” Harbaugh said. “It kind of epitomizes what Baltimore is all about, the history of football in Baltimore. To me, a Baltimore football team should be playing on a grass field in Baltimore.”

Cass told the Sun that the rash of critical injuries suffered last year, most significantly the ACL tear of quarterback Joe Flacco, did not play a role in the change.

To try to avoid the problem they had with grass previously, the Ravens are changing to a different type of grass, Bermuda grass, and will use special lights to help keep the grass growing through the late fall and winter. The field may have to be re-sodded during the season as well.

But the organization is committed to making keeping the grass long-term.

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“If it doesn’t work out because of the climate, because of the way the sun hits, if it turns out not to be a good grass field, we will have to go back to artificial,” Cass said. “But we’re going to make a good try at this. … We’re expecting to have a good grass field for the full season.”

And in case you're a Ravens fan who wants a piece of the team history, pieces of the turf will be made available for purchase. Some of the money from the turf will go to the club's charitable foundation.

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