On Monday, new San Francisco 49ers kicker Billy Cundiff posted some photos on Facebook of the playing field at Candlestick Park. The grass didn’t look good.
Cundiff and the 49ers’ other kicker, David Akers, were at Candlestick as part of their competition to determine who will handle the team’s kicking duties against the Green Bay Packers on Saturday night in the divisional round of the playoffs.
The photo drew national media attention, especially because the poor condition of the grass at Washington’s FedEx Field in a playoff game Sunday was fresh on the minds of football fans and observers.
On Tuesday, Cundiff told csnbayarea.com that Candlestick’s field was better than it appeared in the photos.
“It's not bad. It’s actually pretty firm,” Cundiff said. “From what I’m told, it’s not as nice as it’s been in the past. But still it’s a little better than the practice fields. The practice fields out here are pretty slick.”
Still, the pictures showed significant brown patches in the middle third of the field, and vertical tan streaks between the hash marks and the numbers.
So the Packers have to prepare for the possibility that the field will be in less than excellent condition, and possibly even in poor shape in some places. There’s no ruling out the possibility the 49ers prefer the field to be in less than top shape because they’re a defensive- and run-oriented team, and slicker conditions can slow an offense such as the Packers’.
“Why not?” tight end Jermichael Finley said. “I think so. That’s why it’s called an advantage (playing at home). I think that’s what they do. It’s a defense-friendly field.”
The Packers won’t get the chance to practice at Candlestick, so players will have to determine what cleats to wear after testing the field in warm-ups.
“We have a thousand different type of cleats here, attachments and all that stuff,” receiver James Jones said. “I’m sure we’ll find some right cleats to play on the field. They have to deal with it, too. I don’t know how bad it is.”
The Packers have regular experience playing on a bad surface because they play at Chicago’s Soldier Field every season in an NFC North Division game. All four players asked Tuesday to name the worst field they’ve played on in their careers immediately answered Soldier Field.
Cornerback Tramon Williams characterized Soldier Field as perennially “terrible.” This year the grass was longer than usual.
“Any game we go to (there), it shows,” he said. “You barely can keep your footing. It’s thick, you barely can run on it. It’s hard. It’s bad.”
Kicker Mason Crosby said he remembers nothing about Candlestick’s field from when he played there in a preseason game in 2008. He said he’ll likely wear longer cleats than he would at Lambeau if the field is in shaky condition.
“Once the fields get a little less grass,” Crosby said, “once the fields get a little tougher, or a harder surface or it might be sandy out there, just stick the plant, be balanced and make sure — the plant foot is the critical thing in that whole operation. Make sure you stick the plant and just have a smooth swing through.”