Nightcap Hour 3: George Kittle WANTS GRASS Fields + Drake FLEXES World Cup Win + Cape Verde’s Goalie is BOOMING

**Shannon Sharpe** (0:00)
George Kittle spoke out against NFL teams being willing to use GRASS for the World Cup matches, but not for their own players via the NFLPA. We've made it clear that we prefer GRASS Fields. We know it's better on our bodies, and clearly we know it's possible, based on everything that went on putting GRASS Fields for the World Cup in each stadium. At this point, it comes down to the NFL making it a priority and choosing to invest in us as players because our bodies are our business, which they get to capitalize on. Ochocinco, do you agree with Kittle?

**Chad Johnson** (0:29)
I mean, this has always been a real tough one for me too, Oc and Joe, and for me, you look at all the injuries, right? You look at the injuries when it comes to soccer, whether players are playing at their clubs or whether they're playing here at the World Cup. Yeah. The rate of injuries for them as far as ACL tears is so far few than the NFL, and most of the time we get hurt, it's on the artificial surface. Yes. What do we say it is? We say we're tearing our ACLs because of the surface.
I mean, is there some truth to it? Probably so, but one of the things that would happen is, is now you're adding more money having owners to have to pay for maintenance to the grass. Because most of the stadiums that have the artificial turf on it's cold weather stadiums. It's cold. Where it gets cold at some point. Now, if you have grass, well, when you get the goddamn, you know, November, December and January, well, you're going to have hell on your hands.
I get it though. I understand where Kittle is coming from. We've seen it countless times with players having injuries on the artificial turf. And I mean, for someone that never got injured and had played on artificial turf, and Joe, you know, my whole life in Cincinnati, I think I had GRASS my first year before they changed it. I just, I get it. I get it.

**Shannon Sharpe** (1:53)
Y'all did, Ochocinco. As a matter of fact, I remember you guys used to have GRASS. Well, first at Riverfront, you guys had TURF.

**Chad Johnson** (2:00)
Yeah.

**Shannon Sharpe** (2:00)
And then the state of it that you got now, cause I remember, I think we played y'all in 2

**Chad Johnson** (2:06)
Yeah.

**Shannon Sharpe** (2:07)
See, we already had, we had, y'all had GRASS then, then y'all switched to TURF. When did y'all go to synthetic GRASS?

**Chad Johnson** (2:13)
I think it might have been like, 05, 04, 04, 5 It might have been 03, huh? Okay. Maybe 03, I can't remember. But I mean, I didn't mind, Joe. Joe, I don't care what I'm on, but you might be on ICE, but I'ma run routes on ICE, you know?

**Joe Johnson** (2:27)
Yeah.

**Chad Johnson** (2:28)
Hey, Joe, I-

**Joe Johnson** (2:29)
I'm saying, did you have a preference when you played?

**Shannon Sharpe** (2:32)
GRASS, GRASS, absolutely GRASS, GRASS, GRASS.
And then, look, we always had GRASS, and the Chargers always had GRASS. Now the Chargers, because they shared the field with baseball, so you just hope to avoid the Chargers before September. If you got October on, you know you're going to get nice weather and you're going to get GRASS. We always had GRASS. Kansas City had TERF. Then they went to GRASS.
The Kingdom, the Seattle Seahawks used to play in the Kingdom, that was TERF. Then they went outside, and then when they started building Lumen and Field, they played at Husky Stadium. That was TERF. And then they got GRASS. And so, like the last couple of years, everything that I played on is within my division was GRASS. Then, go to Baltimore. Baltimore was GRASS. Jacksonville was GRASS. Tennessee was GRASS. Cleveland was GRASS. Cincinnati was the only one.
But I think Cincinnati, by the time I got to Baltimore, Cincinnati was GRASS.
So, but no, Joe, I didn't like the turf. Because the old turf, now, they call this field turf. But the old turf was basically concrete with a carpet rolled on top of it. It was hard and you stayed with strobe edge. You didn't really know how bad until you got your ass in the shower after the game. And you're like, ah, damn, what? And then have your ass red. Because you don't sleep on that turf, you didn't appeal to, hey, yeah. Elbows and your forearms, your knees. So no, I prefer GRASS. But to Ochocinco's point, the upkeep and the maintenance of it. Remember, the objective of any corporation is to make as much as we possibly can while spending as little as we possibly can.