Heinz Field turf to be replaced twice before the end of Steelers season

The Heinz Field turf has been voted as one of the worst in the NFL for years and, instead of switching to artificial turf as the New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens have done, the Pittsburgh Steelers have decided to stick with grass, just replacing it more often throughout the season.

Heinz Field gets its share of use between the Steelers, the Pitt Panthers and the High School Playoffs that are hosted in the big ketchup bottle. All of that can lead to some poor field conditions for a team worth more than a billion dollars.

In the past, the Steelers used a hybrid form of turf that had artificial turf sewn into natural grass. It worked great until the field saw the abuse of multiple games in the course of a week. It was that grass/turf mixture which was unable to be replaced during the season.

Most fans can remember the 3-0 dud between the Steelers and Miami Dolphins on Monday Night Football where the organization decided to put sod over top of the current surface due to the horrible field conditions. When heavy rains fell before and during the game, the field turned into a quagmire. How can we forget the punt which stuck into the ground upon hitting the turf?

Since then, the organization has gone to an all-grass surface, and they have the ability to replace the sod as many times as necessary throughout the year.

The organization replaced the turf following the Steelers' victory over the Houston Texans on Monday night, and they'll do so again after the high school WPIAL championships have concluded later next month. Once that sod has been replaced, it'll remain for the rest of the 2014 regular season.