PHILADELPHIA -- The Vet didn't have a chance to claim any
victims this time.
The preseason opener for the Baltimore Ravens and Philadelphia Eagles was postponed Monday night because of problems with the turf
at Veterans Stadium.
|  | | Ravens quarterback Randall Cunningham inspects repairs on the turf at Veterans Stadium. |
Officials from both NFL teams thought uneven cutouts in the
field could affect players' footing.
Some disappointed fans, among the estimated 45,000 in
attendance, smashed will-call windows and other areas outside the
30-year-old stadium. Six people were arrested for unruly behavior,
and that was just one problem.
The press elevator then got stuck between the first and second
level while a news conference took place. There were no injuries,
but 18 people waited 41 minutes to be let out.
Commissioner Paul Tagliabue will decide Tuesday if the game will
be made up. Both teams have two games to play within the next 11
days.
The start time, scheduled for 7:30 p.m., was originally pushed
back 35 minutes. At 8:09, the stadium announcer said the game was
"temporarily suspended." Fans, who were offered a full refund,
immediately began booing. At least one object was thrown on the
field.
Fifteen minutes later, the game was officially postponed by
Peter Hadhazy, the NFL's director of game operations.
No one questioned the decision.
"It was completely unanimous from everybody's perspective,"
Eagles president Joe Banner said. "The field is not suitable to
playing.
"We're disappointed. We've been going through this for years.
It's not acceptable. The conditions this team is forced to play in
is absolutely unacceptable and an embarrassment to the city of
Philadelphia."
The last NFL game that was canceled without starting was Aug.
19, 1995, at the Astrodome. The San Diego Chargers were unable to
play the Houston Oilers because the turf was determined to be
unsafe.
The Super Bowl champion Ravens were hoping to get a look at a
couple running backs and the offensive line because Jamal Lewis
went down for the season with a knee injury in practice last week
and right tackle Leon Searcy is out 10 to 12 weeks after tearing a
tendon in his arm early in camp.
James Brookins, who spent last season on three team's practice
squads, and Chris Barnes, a fifth-round pick, were set to get a
bulk of the carries.
The Ravens signed veteran Terry Allen on Saturday, and were
waiting to see how Brookins and Barnes fared before deciding
whether to pursue free agent Chris Warren.
"The most important thing to note is the safety and well-being
of the players will be the No. 1 determinant in everything we do,"
Ravens coach Brian Billick said.
Eagles running back Duce Staley also was to see his first action
since last Oct. 1 when he went down with a foot injury.
"The players were disappointed we weren't able to play,"
Eagles cornerback Troy Vincent said. "The field conditions were
horrendous."
Vincent said players actually sunk into the turf on parts of the
field near the infield cutouts.
"I'm embarrassed to put Brian and the Ravens through their
travel here," Eagles coach Andy Reid said.
The Eagles, who share Veterans Stadium with baseball's
Philadelphia Phillies, use large squares of turf to cover the areas
surrounding infield dirt patches.
Banner said the problem involved three areas of the new NexTurf,
installed for this baseball season, covering the pitcher's mound
and first and second base.
Players noticed the uneven turf during a routine walk-through
before the game. Grounds crews added layers of dirt under the
cutouts to try to remedy the problem, to no avail.
"The surface underneath the turf was not smoothed properly, so
that when you lay the turf on it you've got, not a ripple, but ruts
to the point where it was unsafe," Banner said. "You could twist
an ankle or a knee too easily."
Before the game was called off, players and coaches from both
teams conferred with referee Tom White on the condition of the
field. They included Billick, Ravens president David Modell, and
players Tony Siragusa and Harry Swayne, along with Eagles owner
Jeffrey Lurie, Reid and Vincent.
"The risk to the players was too great, and it really is a
shame," Modell said.
City managing director Joe Martz said workers practiced
converting the stadium between its baseball and football
orientations for three days last month and that the transition went
smoothly.
"I guess what we didn't expect, and what we didn't account for,
at least, was the amount of rain that we've received over the last
three days and specifically over the last 24 hours," Martz said.
The Eagles are slated to move into a new, football-only stadium
for the 2003 season.
The Vet is notorious for problems with its turf. Numerous
players were injured after hitting the surface or tripping over a
cutout.
Last year, Bears quarterback Cade McNown separated his throwing
shoulder after being driven into the turf by Mike Caldwell.
In October 1993, Bears wide receiver Wendell Davis blew out both
knees on the same play while running a pass route.
"The whole league knows about the Vet turf," Eagles
quarterback Donovan McNabb said last year. "There's two things you
can get hit by -- our defenders or our stadium. They're both hard
hits."
The quality of the Vet's playing surface was such a concern that
the league instituted a turf review program to make sure it was up
to standards.
But those problems were supposed to be resolved when the old
surface was torn up after last season and replaced with the softer
NexTurf.
In January, the Vet's surface was rated the league's worst in an
NFL Players Association survey.
"It's basically the same fields in the same order each year,"
Gene Upshaw, executive director of the NFLPA, said at the time.
"Philadelphia always comes in last, and it will keep coming in
last until it gets a new stadium."
The Phillies haven't had any problems with the new surface.
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