Eagles installing new playing surface

The Eagles will have a new playing field for their next home game, Dec. 2 against the Seattle Seahawks.

Head groundskeeper Tony Leonard recommended after Sunday's game against the Miami Dolphins that the Eagles re-sod the entire field. Team officials approved the operation, which began yesterday. It marks the first time the field has received a makeover during the season since Lincoln Financial Field opened in 2003.

Including Temple football games, "we had four games there in a 15-day stretch and three in an eight-day stretch," Leonard said yesterday as he oversaw the operation. "We had a window of opportunity to do this and we wanted to provide a good, safe playing field. I made the recommendation after the game."

The field was an eyesore before Sunday's game and only got worse as the teams played in rainy conditions. Quarterback Donovan McNabb and safety Quintin Mikell suffered injuries during the game, but they appeared to have more to do with hits they took than any surface problems.

Leonard said that the Eagles imported 4-by-25-foot rolls of sod from Tuckahoe Farms in Hammonton, N.J., and that the installation would be completed today. The sod, which is 1 3/4 inches thick, is 15 months old.

"It is developed, and we can get it cut thick enough where it's not going to move," Leonard said. "I feel comfortable that the last three games of the season will be fine."

Leonard said it was not unusual for teams to re-sod their fields at this time of the year. He said Tennessee, Tampa Bay and San Diego have re-sodded all or portions of their fields in recent weeks.

The Eagles' playing surface is one of four DD GrassMaster fields in the NFL. Those fields are reinforced by polypropylene fibers, which are sewn vertically into the sod. Pittsburgh, Green Bay and Denver also play on DD GrassMaster fields, which are supposed to enhance the ability to have a natural playing surface in climates where the weather turns cold in November and December.

However, 41 of 48 Steelers players recently polled by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette rated the field as poor or fair, with only seven saying it was in good condition.

After the Eagles play their final three games of the season on the re-sodded field, Leonard said, the sod will be taken off and the DD GrassMaster surface will still be intact.

"What we'll do at the end of the season is remove the sod, and we'll still have the DD GrassMaster field," Leonard said. "The field will be covered for six weeks by the sod, and the Bermuda grass will stay alive because it's typically dormant at this time of year anyway."