On Saquon Barkley’s first carry with the Philadelphia Eagles, a moment Eagles fans had waited all offseason for, he slipped on the turf in Brazil and fell, losing 5 yards.
He wasn’t the only player to slip on the turf at Arena Corinthians in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The NFL promoted the Eagles-Green Bay Packers game in Brazil, the first regular-season game in South America. But slipping and sliding on the turf became one of the stories as people found the right streaming service to watch the game.
Packers receiver Christian Watson slipped a couple of times in the first quarter, including once when he was in the end zone for a potential touchdown. Other players looked very unsteady while trying to cut. On one play early in the second quarter, Packers running back Emanuel Wilson managed a 14-yard run, stopped to cut and his feet slid about a yard as he fell to the seat of his pants.
This field looks a bit dangerous. Players on both sides of the court slip on almost every play.
— Charles Robinson (@CharlesRobinson) September 7, 2024
Everyone seemed to notice the problems with the field, including former NFL star JJ Watt and LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Football fields are made for speed and agility. Smaller bodies glide across the surface with minimal contact.
They are not properly conditioned to have the size and strength of NFL players cutting, pushing and driving over them all game long.
This is common in international games. https://t.co/6NmjrwFty2
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) September 7, 2024
This field is crap!!! GB vs PHI
— LeBron James (@KingJames) September 7, 2024
The start of the game, a matchup between two of the NFL’s most talented teams, seemed disorganized in many ways. Maybe it was due to the unusual Friday night kickoff, or an announcing crew that is far more familiar to college football fans than NFL fans, or just the unusual environment of the game. The seemingly horrible field conditions did not help the level of play. It had both teams scrambling on the sideline to get the proper cleats to deal with the turf.
“Do what you have to do, change cleats, but it’s been an issue for sure,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said on Peacock at the end of the first half.
The NFL wants to expand its game internationally, and to do so, it sends teams to play in other countries. Often, those games are played in stadiums that never or rarely host football games. You’d think the multi-billion dollar league would make sure not to put its players on substandard playing surfaces in the process.