Jermaine Eluemunor has seen enough to pick a side in football’s grass-versus-turf fight, and he’s not leaving much room for debate.
The New York Giants offensive lineman was among the players watching the temporary natural grass at MetLife Stadium during the World Cup, when Argentina and Spain played there. Once the tournament ended and the grass came out, the turf went back in - a switch that clearly didn’t sit well with him.
Eluemunor said the field looked beautiful and argued that stadiums should keep it. He also pushed back hard on one of the most common defenses of artificial surfaces: that grass becomes a problem once winter hits.
“Turf vs grass in December is no debate,” he said, adding that even in brutal conditions in Green Bay, grass still felt better than turf “anytime.”
He doubled down on that point in a post of his own, writing: “Turf vs Grass in December is no debate! Doesn’t matter how cold it gets grass will always feel better.
I’ve Played in Green Bay in early December and it still felt a million times better than turf anytime. Turf will never be the answer”
Eluemunor’s stance fits into a bigger wave of player frustration that has followed the World Cup setup at NFL stadiums. Eleven NFL venues installed temporary natural grass this summer to satisfy FIFA’s requirements for World Cup matches, even though seven of those stadiums normally use artificial turf during football season. After the tournament, crews removed the grass and put the turf back down.
That move has drawn plenty of public criticism. San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle repeatedly posted about the grass at MetLife Stadium, saying it looked great and asking the NFL to “keep it that way.”
Dallas Cowboys receiver CeeDee Lamb also weighed in, reposting a stat that 92 percent of players prefer grass and adding a simple “please? @nfl” - a request Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has already pushed back on.
Other players have joined the same push under the hashtag #WorthTheCost, including Jonathan Taylor and Caleb Williams, both arguing that natural grass is not too expensive if teams make it a priority.
Commissioner Roger Goodell, though, has continued to lean on injury data rather than player opinion. ESPN reported that independent data shows injuries are roughly 16 percent more likely on turf than grass, which keeps the argument alive every offseason.
For now, Eluemunor and the rest of the league will head into the 2026 season playing on the same artificial surfaces they’ve been challenging all along. And the debate figures to flare up again the next time a star goes down.
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