The Commissioner's Super Bowl weak/week press conference was the first to address the 49ers' UNLV practice field issues. The NFLPA will comment on Wednesday.
The NFLPA will discuss 49ers-deemed soft fields at the non-invitation-only session. We received that reaction on Monday when Goodell included the union in his support of the 49ers practice grounds.
"23 experts were there," Goodell added. The union has been present. They all consider that a playable surface. It's softer than practiced, but that happens. It meets all our testing criteria. Our specialists and impartial field assessors all agree that it's a playable field.”
Michael Silver of the San Francisco Chronicle says the field's hardness is the issue, with the score initially 48. According to Silver, 70–90 is excellent. Silver says it's now in the low 50s.
Silver says that the NFL justified the issue by saying the 49ers have played on two identical grounds, including MetLife Stadium. The 49ers lost Nick Bosa and Soloman Thomas to ruptured ACLs on consecutive plays early in 2020. "To say the 49ers were triggered would be an understatement," Silver adds.
Silver makes another intriguing argument. He claims that the league leaked the situation to the media early Monday, giving the impression that the 49ers were whining and giving Goodell a chance to tactfully echo that impression.
It's not a huge thing, but it's another league mistake before gaslighting. Always a "you" problem, never a "we" problem.
It will be fascinating to see if the union agrees with Goodell's claim that the field is OK on Wednesday. However, the NFLPA should tread cautiously since a "ground war" may ensue if someone doesn't like your practice-field grass comments.
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