MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey isn’t some old and decrepit sports arena like some others that we’ve seen. The home of the New York Giants and New York Jets, it is a modern stadium that was opened in 2010. It has hosted many major events, including the Super Bowl in February 2014 and the upcoming World Cup that will be hosted in North America. But according to a poll of anonymous players, MetLife is the worst place to play in the NFL.
Players Say MetLife Is The Worst Stadium In The NFL
The Athletic surveyed 85 NFL players to determine their favorite and least favorite NFL stadiums.
Top Three
• Arrowhead Stadium (Chiefs)
• US Bank Stadium (Vikings)
• SoFi Stadium (Rams/Chargers)Bottom Three
• MetLife Stadium (Giants/Jets)
• FedEx Field (Commanders)
•… pic.twitter.com/zscmrPncTx— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) November 21, 2023
The Athletic does a yearly piece in which they go around to various teams in the league and poll certain players on different topics. The sources are anonymous, so the results of the polls give us a pretty good idea of where NFL players stand on certain issues. This year, they have overwhelmingly selected Patrick Mahomes as the league’s top player, and think that the Eagles and Cowboys have the most annoying fan bases.
But a couple of the questions came in regard to the stadiums that they play in, and players were asked to give their opinions on which place they like to play in the least. 18.4% of the respondents, a majority, responded with MetLife Stadium.
There isn’t anything special or unique about the building. It looks and feels hollow, and with dual residency from the Jets and Giants and the generic NFL logo being the decal placed at mid-field, there isn’t a lot of team-related character for fans to latch on to.
The Turf Is A Big Problem For Players
“The place is just a dump”
An anonymous players poll conducted by The Athletic revealed FedExField to be the second-worst place to play in the league, behind only MetLife Stadium:https://t.co/XXTL4GIFlT
— 106.7 The Fan (@1067theFan) November 21, 2023
The players notice too, and they have even more gripes as the ones who have to play on the questionable surface. The turf at MetLife has long been criticized and is known for taking the Achilles and knees away from certain players, and the disdain will continue until something is done about it. According to the piece by the Athletic, multiple players mentioned the turf specifically as a reason for putting the stadium at #1 on the “least favorite” list.
Other NFL stadiums to appear on the list included FedEx Field in Washington, as well as Highmark Stadium in Buffalo. Two of the 79 responders actually voted for the Oakland Coliseum, which hasn’t been in use for a few years now but holds enough memory of being a terrible place to play.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, the players voted for Arrowhead Stadium as the best place to play.
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