Playing Surface
On November 14, 2006, two days after a rainstorm contributed to the deterioration of the grass surface in a Patriots loss against the New York Jets, team management decided to replace the natural grass surface with a synthetic surface, FieldTurf. The Patriots' first game on the surface was a victory over the previously 9–1 Chicago Bears on November 26. At the conclusion of the 2007 season, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady had a career record of 31–3 on artificial turf. The team lost a preseason matchup in August 2007 to the Tennessee Titans on the new FieldTurf but otherwise won its first eleven regular-season and playoff games on the surface covering the period of November 2006 until September 2008, when the Patriots lost to the Miami Dolphins.
In February 2010, the surface was pulled and upgraded to FieldTurf "Duraspine Pro," which was expected to meet FIFA standards that the previous turf did not, preventing the team from having to place sod on top of their turf to host international soccer matches.
Read more about this topic: Gillette Stadium
Famous quotes containing the words playing and/or surface:
“All voting is a sort of gaming, like checkers or backgammon, with a slight moral tinge to it, a playing with right and wrong, with moral questions; and betting naturally accompanies it. The character of the voters is not staked. I cast my vote, perchance, as I think right; but I am not vitally concerned that right should prevail. I am willing to leave it to the majority.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Bees
Shaking the heavy dews from bloom and frond.
Boys
Bursting the surface of the ebony pond.”
—Wilfred Owen (1893–1918)