After More Injuries, Turf Again Center Of Debate

New York Giants quarterback Dave Brown created a stir this past week by pointing a finger at the Giants Stadium artificial turf as a direct cause of the leg injuries suffered by offensive linemen Scott Davis and Brian Williams.

And No. 1 draft pick Ki-Jana Carter probably is thinking the same thing as he recovers from the knee injury that ended his season prematurely Thursday night at the Silverdome.

But Brown and Carter are hardly alone in their disdain for turf. In fact, an overwhelming majority of NFL players detest playing on the fake stuff - 85.1 percent would rather play all their games on grass, according to a survey of nearly 1,000 players conducted in recent months by the NFL Players Association. Among the most significant findings:

93.4 percent say playing on turf is more likely to contribute to injury.

91.5 percent believe playing on turf will shorten their careers.

89.8 percent say turf is more likely to worsen their quality of life after football.

96.1 percent believe turf causes more soreness after games.

And 53.8 percent say they have had one or more injuries on turf that they contend would not have occurred on a grass surface.

NFLPA Executive Director Gene Upshaw has presented the survey’s findings to league owners and urges that teams do everything possible to preserve existing grass surfaces and remove artificial surfaces wherever possible.

Of the NFL’s 30 teams, 15 play their home games on artificial turf. Seven of those teams play in outdoor stadiums, eight play indoors.

Yet even with all the criticism aimed at the perils of turf, scientific evidence does not indicate a major increase in injury rates when compared with games on grass surfaces. New York Jets team physician James Nicholas studied his team’s injury rates from 1960-1985 and concluded that rates of injury on turf and grass did not differ significantly.

Georgia Dome damaged

Storm damage to the Georgia Dome in Atlanta could force the Carolina Panthers’ first regular-season game Sept. 3 to be moved to Clemson, team officials told The Charlotte Observer.

Torrential rains and high winds at the dome’s downtown site early Sunday caused four sections of the roof to collapse. Engineers will inspect the damage today and then meet with officials of the Atlanta Falcons to see whether the game needs to be moved.

If the stadium isn’t ready, Panthers President Mike McCormack said the Panthers and Falcons probably would flip-flop the sites of their two games this season, playing the Sept. 3 game at Clemson and moving to the Georgia Dome for the Dec. 17 rematch.

Georgia Dome spokeswoman Kellie Cannon said: “Currently, we have no information on the impact of scheduled events or the cost of repairs.”

Four of the more than 100 sections of the Dome’s 8.6-acre roof collapsed after 3.14 inches of rain fell in a 5-hour period. The rain was accompanied by wind gusts of more than 50 mph.

Injury update

After a nervous night of waiting, Miami Dolphins coach Don Shula learned that linebacker Bryan Cox had only sprained his right knee in Saturday night’s exhibition against Washington.

“We looked at him this morning and he looked to be OK,” Shula said. “Hopefully, it’s not serious enough to keep him out for any length of time.

Backup fullback Robert Wilson and reserve running back Irving Spikes also were injured in the Dolphins’ 27-13 victory and are expected to miss the final exhibition game Friday night against Tampa Bay in Orlando.

He has had a rough going since joining the New York Giants, and now Tyrone Wheatley, the team’s first-round draft pick, will miss at least one week with two cracked ribs he sustained in the Giants’ 32-31 victory over the New York Jets on Saturday night.

It’s uncertain on which play Wheatley was hurt, but after a 39-yard kickoff return that showed just how fast Wheatley is, he had a run of minus-3 yards followed by a 6-yard run and then a run for minus-1 yard. Wheatley left the game after the third run.

Giants coach Dan Reeves said it is uncertain when Wheatley will come back. “It could be several weeks or he could possibly play in a week,” said Reeves.

Kellogg let go

Former Eastern Washington University defensive back Jackie Kellogg was cut by the San Francisco 49ers as teams try to get down to Tuesday’s 60-man limit.

Cardinals 17, Bears 16

Aeneas Williams intercepted Steve Walsh’s pass and returned it 37 yards for a touchdown with 7:24 left Sunday night as Arizona stayed unbeaten in exhibition play, edging host Chicago.

The Cardinals got two breaks in the final minutes to record their third straight victory, the last coming with 18 seconds to play when Chicago’s Kevin Butler missed a 37-yard field goal.