‘It’s Not Gonna Work’: James Harrison Says Changing Playing Surface Won’t Fix Acrisure Stadium’s ‘Biggest Issue’

Although the Pittsburgh Steelers won the AFC North last year, they still had some rough moments. Their home field got criticized for good reason. Acrisure Stadium’s field looked almost unplayable at times last season, with many players complaining about it. It got crushed in the NFLPA “report cards,” too. As a result, the team decided to change the surface. There’s hope that will fix things, but James Harrison doesn’t believe it will.

“The biggest issue that we have is that it’s too many games played on that surface,” Harrison said recently on his Deebo and Joe podcast. “I don’t care how many times you change the surface. It’s not gonna work. It’s gonna get terrible in that stadium because you have Pitt playing on that surface, you have us playing on that surface, and then you have the high school playoff games playing on that surface in November.

“When you look at it, you’ve got 25 games or more that are playing on that surface, and that’s before we even get to the playoffs… Until the Steelers have their own stadium that only they play in, this will be a problem. It will continue to be a problem.”

The Steelers’ new playing surface is called Tahoma 31 Bermuda, and they aren’t the only team to use it. The Philadelphia Eagles and Chicago Bears also play on Tahoma 31 Bermuda. Both teams play outside and tend to deal with ugly weather, so they’re good examples of what the Steelers could be in for.

While it would be tough to be worse than the Steelers’ previous surface, the new one won’t be perfect. For example, the Bears’ field didn’t look pretty at times last season. That doesn’t immediately prove Harrison’s point. However, it shows that the Steelers’ field issues might not be over.

That isn’t the only example of Tahoma 31 Bermuda having problems. Some fans might remember players on the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs slipping often during Super Bowl LVII. They blamed that on the field being overwatered, and hopefully the Steelers are aware of that problem. However, it could be a potential issue if they aren’t careful.

It might be a little early for Harrison’s pessimism, as the new field was just installed. However, it won’t be long before it gets tested. If Acrisure continues to have problems, perhaps Pitt and the Steelers will consider Harrison’s suggestion. Player safety is important, and sometimes, Acrisure’s field isn’t safe to play on.