"RIP to the knees torn today," "Quality engineering and drainage right there" - NFL fans brutally troll Bears over pathetic playing conditions at Soldier Field following heavy rain
In the most Chicago Bears way possible, despite winning their opening game 19-10 against the San Franciso 49ers, comments on social media are all about Soldier Field, their home field.
To be fair, the weather was atrocious throughout. But that in no way could have explained the water build-up in what was the first game of the NFL season there. Fans were not kind and lambasted the playing field on social media.
Sorry, but this doesn't look like an NFL playing surface https://t.co/4Sq1wTFEMs
@barstoolsports Quality engineering and drainage right there
@barstoolsports RIP to the knees torn today.
Rain on the worst grass field in the World. This will be worth checking out.
Most small town 9 man football fields have better turf than Soldier Field. twitter.com/StaceyDales/st…
Bermuda grass doesn’t seem to drain very well. https://t.co/K1rDrav2EK
This is a sure fire way to get #Bears to move to a new stadium; grass at Soldier Field is seemingly ALWAYS trash twitter.com/MarkPotash/sta…
Today's Chicago Bears game in this monsoon with no roof will seal the deal.
They will not be staying in Soldier Field with this grass and no roof. Move to Arlington Heights is a sure thing.
Soldier Field's grass looks like torn ACLs waiting to happen.
Lol that new Soldier Field Bermuda grass is going to be absolute pig slop by halftime, beautiful
Soldier Field is melting in the dark.🎵Soldier Field is melting in the dark.🎵
🎵All the sweet green grass flowing away🎵
🎵Someone left the players out in the rain.🎵
🎵I don’t think that we can take it, so to Arlington we shall take it. And we’ll never have to play on this again! OH NOOOO!🎵
Also Checkout:- Bears Preseason Schedule
How did the Chicago Bears get stuck in this swamp?
To recollect how we got here, one must remember that Soldier Field is a historic institution in the NFL. Not only is it the smallest stadium in the NFL, but it carries its aura by being the oldest stadium in the league. Unfortunately, it has started showing its age.
Even during the pre-season, the Bears and their Soldier Field playing surface was heavily criticized. It led to the stadium replacing the Kentucky bluegrass with Bermuda grass on September 5, 2022, to rectify the issue.
It was less than a week before the opening game and quite clearly, the playing surface did not improve as they had hoped.
In addition to the quality of the playing surface, Soldier Field obviously has a drainage problem. Apart from the grass field being able to absorb water, a modern stadium should not get clogged down by the amount of rain that is witnessed. Unfortunately, therein lies the problem, that it is not a modern stadium.
The Bears are therefore looking to move away from Soldier Field to a new stadium. They zeroed in on the Arlington International Racecourse in the Chicago suburbs after the former horse racetrack went up for sale in 2021.
The entire property was purchased by the Chicago Bears and an architecture planner has been selected to go ahead with building a new stadium.
One of these days, after over 50 years at Soldier Field, the Bears will have a new place to call home, whether Arlington or elsewhere. Much like most relocations, they will have better facilities and designs, a glitzier atmosphere, and, one hopes, better playing surfaces.
However, it will take a lifetime to create the memories that they have forged at Soldier Field. For all its faults, there are memories associated with this place.
When inevitably it falls into disuse, whenever that may be, all that will remain is a sepia-tinted glaze of the best memories from the stadium. The inconvenient memories, such as those today, that precipitated the move in the first place, will long be forgotten.