Temperatures of 66 degrees Celsius on the synthetic turf surface of Nissan Stadium during a game between Philadelphia Eagles and the Tennessee Titans are blamed for the melting of the cleats of several players.
A left tackle from Philadelphia, Jordan Mailata, was quoted on ESPN saying that this is another reason the union should push for the league to do away with turf surfaces.
“I’ve never thought about how hot a stadium can be if it’s turf. (The heat) just sits there and bounces up into you,” Mailata said. “We’ve got to bring it up. This is why we want all grass fields, to create a standard of play in the league where we’re not putting players in dangerous positions if we don’t have to.”
Mailata represented his team at the NFL Players Association in 2025.
According to ESPN, he claimed he twice rolled his ankles in the game and wondered if it could be the result of his shoes bending because the plastic in the bottom of his cleats got soft.
Television cameras showed a member of the Titans having his cleats sprayed with water to cool them off.
Mailata was supported by many players.
“Turf in general radiates heat more than f—ing grass ever will,” Travis Kelce said on the New Heights podcast. “… You shouldn’t be allowed to do that. You shouldn’t be allowed to put players on a field that does that. … NFL’s got to figure something out for s— like that. That’s insane.”
His teammate, offensive lineman Cam Jurgens, reportedly switched multiple pairs of cleats because the rubber soles were melting.
No max. temperature
The current Nissan Stadium has a massive stadium bowl with a capacity of close to 70,000 seats. This venue has no roof but the new Nissan Stadium that is currently being built next door, will have a permanently enclosed roof that allows natural light to seep through.
The temperature in Nashville was 35 degrees Celsius at the kick-off around noon. A heat index of approximately 40 degrees was measured. A heat dome had settled over the area in recent weeks, with high pressure in the atmosphere pushing heat toward the surface and trapping it there.
Where numerous leagues, councils and governments around the world have health and safety protocols in place to abandon games or not start at all when temperatures reach a certain peak, apparently the NFL does not have such a protocol in place. The protocol is likely difficult to have in light of the commercial interest that come with the game.
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