Former NFL star turned CBS announcer J.J. Watt is in Brazil for Sunday afternoon’s game between the Dallas Cowboys and Baltimore Ravens.
The game is moving forward as scheduled, despite growing concerns about the field conditions at the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.
Watt, who works for one of the NFL’s biggest partners in CBS, is not afraid to call out the league on social media. He’s concerned about the status of the field conditions.
“I’m giving the field the benefit of the doubt until we see reason not to, once the players are on it. But I will present real photos I just took. 1st Photo: The 10 yard line, between the hashes. 2nd Photo: A sample of the artificial turf plugs threaded into the field,” he shared on X, formerly known as Twitter.
NFLPA director J.C. Tretter shared some field concerns on Friday, too.
“There have been a lot of questions about the field surface in Brazil, and I wanted to provide the NFLPA’s perspective. Our number one priority is the health and safety of our players. The concern heading into this week was that the field would be loose, patchy, and lead to excessive slipping. Those conditions are generally more of a playability and performance issue than a significant injury concern. But safety isn’t the only standard. Players should be able to perform at the level they expect of themselves and that fans expect from them,” he shared.
“A thin, slick field may not present the same risks as a surface with too much traction, but it still affects performance and the quality of the game. We’ve been in regular communication with the league about the field. Both the NFLPA’s and the league’s field experts have been on the ground in Brazil for days, monitoring conditions and working to make the surface as safe and playable as possible for Sunday. Based on our experts’ assessment, the field needed better traction and stability. They recommended reinforced stitching to help the surface hold together and brought in equipment to reinforce as much of the field as possible before the game. Our experts will remain engaged and continue evaluating conditions through kickoff.”
NFL fans have remained concerned, though it sounds like the game will move forward as scheduled on Sunday.
Kickoff is set for 4:25 p.m. E.T. on CBS.
