Aaron Rodgers Calls Out Raymond James Stadium After Beating Buccaneers

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers fell to the Pittsburgh Steelers 26-19 on Sunday, moving down to 1-5 on the year. The Bucs held the edge throughout the half, but the Steelers turned it around and gave Tampa Bay another close loss, this time in overtime.

The Steelers were led by quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who will go down as one of the best to ever play the game. Rodgers has played in Raymond James Stadium a few times over the years, and while this will almost certainly be the last time, he had a parting shot for the stadium in his post-game press conference.

Rodgers may have gotten the win, but he made his displeasure known about a certain aspect of playing football in Tampa Bay.

Rodgers Calls Raymond James Stadium One of League's 'Worst' Surfaces

Rodgers told Steelers media after the game that he thought the playing surface at Raymond James Stadium is one of the worst in the NFL.

"It's gotta be one of the worst surfaces in the league," Rodgers said Sunday. "We're talking about player safety. I'm very thankful to not get hurt — I've gotten hurt twice on this field, in my opinion, because of this turf. I know USF plays here, I believe. That surface, you know, I don't think it's very safe."

The evidence from the last NFLPA report card backs up Rodgers' claim. In the anonymous survey, the Buccaneers' field was ranked F-, tied for worst in the NFL. Five teams earned an F- — three of them were turf, and the only other grass field was, ironically, the Steelers' Acrisure Stadium.

As Rodgers mentioned, USF playing its home games at the stadium the day before probably contributes in a big way to this problem. The turf also often hosts bowl games, too, so it gets a lot of use from teams that are not the Buccaneers.

Rodgers has played on that field at Raymond James Stadium seven times against the Buccaneers. He's 3-4 after his win on Sunday, and it will likely be the last time he ever plays in the stadium.

The Bucs won't be playing on that field next Sunday, as they'll play their first NFC South rivalry game of the year when they face off against the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte.

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