Faced with the prospect of playing on a frozen field Monday night at TCF Bank Stadium and so far not given a voice in the decision, Vikings players shared some of their concerns on Wednesday.
"I just hope it's a safe environment to play in," tight end Visanthe Shiancoe said. "That it's not going to be hazardous to the players when it comes to field conditions."
Vikings owner Zygi Wilf expressed optimism that the game against the Chicago Bears can be held on the University of Minnesota campus, but nothing has been made official and there clearly are obstacles and concerns that have to be overcome.
Among them is the fact that the FieldTurf at TCF Bank Stadium is not equipped with heating coils in the sod, as cold-weather venues such as Soldier Field in Chicago or Lambeau Field in Green Bay are. That means that even with the plan to remove all the ice from the field before Monday, there almost certainly will be areas that freeze again once the game begins.
The National Weather Service calls for a high of 17 on Monday with a slight chance of snow and then a low around 5 degrees at night. Another forecast calls for the low to be zero.
"Is that really a home-field advantage for us? That's the question," Shiancoe said. "But at the same time, we have to go out there and play, and we'll play hard."
Linebacker Ben Leber, one of the Vikings' assistant player representatives, said he has not been asked about the choice of venue.
"They haven't consulted us, and to my understanding they haven't consulted anybody," Leber said. "I talked to a few guys, and nobody has been asked what our opinion is. ... I think much like everything else we're just kind of told where and when to be and just roll with it."
Said Vikings kicker Ryan Longwell: "When it comes to a circumstance like this, you certainly would like to have some input. I don't know if we have a choice."
George Atallah, assistant executive director of external affairs for the NFL Players Association, did not returns calls Wednesday, so it's unclear whether the group will try to get involved in the situation.
How hard is the ground?
With the field potentially having the give of asphalt, concerns include traction and the impact of falling on the surface, Leber said. That could be especially true if a player falls head first, given the NFL's emphasis on reducing concussions this season.
"It can be a potentially dangerous situation, but because historically in the past games have been played on frozen fields ... and there is probably not enough evidence to say, 'There's a 60 percent chance of a player getting hurt or whatever,'" Leber said. "This machine has been going too long and too hard for anything to throw a wrench in it during the week of the game. It's a valid question, but I don't think anything could be done."
Longwell spent his first nine seasons with the Packers so he is no stranger to kicking in cold weather, but the veteran clearly has some reservations about playing in a stadium that has been shut down since the Gophers closed their season Nov. 27.
"There's a reason that cold weather fields around the league have coils under them," Longwell said. "That's so you can be able to put your cleat in the ground. To have a FieldTurf field that's been sitting under snow for a couple of months with no coils, it's kind of one of those things where it's uncharted territory.
"You don't know if you're going to be able to wear cleats, you don't know if you're going to have to wear more like a running shoe with rubber on the bottom. I don't know if we have much choice in the issue, but it certainly does not sound like an ideal scenario footingwise without the coils and with a field that has not been protected for the last couple of months."
Wilf looks forward to outdoors
Meanwhile Wilf made his first comments about the situation to reporters in Dallas at the NFL meetings, and he sounded confident that the game will be played at the Gophers' stadium.
"A lot of people are working very hard to get it done, but we want to assure the fans in the Twin Cities and all of Minnesota that we're going to have a game in Minnesota," Wilf said. "I look forward to being back outdoors the way I was always used to watching games and enjoying games."
Leber does like the fact that playing at TCF Bank Stadium would enable the Vikings to get in front of their home fans. He said that having several days to gear up should help players be mentally prepared.
He also knows this is a bottom-line business.
"I think this is too big of situation when it comes down to money and ticket sales for us to have a big enough voice to say, 'You have to move the game or we're not going to play,'" Leber said. "I think we're pretty much bound to our contract that we have, and there's not much else we can do about it."
Live Vikings chat at 12:30 p.m.
No comments:
Post a Comment