The Pittsburgh Steelers were the lowest-rated franchise in the NFLPA’s annual player survey. It was the first time the Steelers had ever come in last in the annual report cards, although they finished as low as 28th after last season.
“[Steelers owner] Art Rooney ranks last in the league for willingness to invest in facilities, a trend reflected in the Steelers’ poor facility ratings across the board,” the survey said, whilst also citing that the Steelers owned the worst field in the NFL.
“Players cite inadequate maintenance and excessive wear from hosting local college and high school games,” the survey said. “Players across the league note the poor condition of the field and emphasize the need for investment to bring it up to standard.”
However, it would seem the low grade worked exactly as intended, and Pittsburgh is making a major change to its field.
“Art Rooney II confirms the Steelers are in the process of replacing the oft-criticized Acrisure Stadium playing surface. They’ll use Tahoma 31 Bermudagrass instead of the Kentucky bluegrass they had used,” Pennlive.com’s Nick Farabaugh reported on Tuesday.
That wasn’t the only change Pittsburgh made to Acrisure Stadium. The franchise also put in new seats and made sure to sprinkle in some dark ones with the famous yellow.
“NEW SEATS AT ACRISURE STADIUM ARE…….Black and yellow. Not really sure if this is public knowledge or not, but saw the new seats at (Acrisure Stadium) today being installed and the new seats are mostly yellow with some black/gray seats mixed in amongst them,” reported Steelres photojournalist Ed Thompson.
It’ll be interesting to see where the Steelers land in the next report cards after the changes.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.