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Heinz Field, 2009 |
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In 2009, Heinz Field returned to a 100% natural grass surface for the first time in six years. The DD Grassmaster hybrid surface in place from 2003-2008 had been unable to hold up for an entire slate of NFL and college home games and high school championships, in addition to the other events held at Heinz and had often needed to be overlaid with new turf.
As a matter of fact, the turf the Steelers opened the 2009 season with had been used to cover the bad field late in the previous season, so it was technically the same surface they had won the 2008 AFC Championship on. The Steelers hoped it would take root and be around for many more big games.
The DD Grassmaster surface had been impractical to repaint during the season, leading the Steelers to avoid marking it specifically for either the Steelers or the University of Pittsburgh Panthers. Each year, they waited until the Panthers' home schedule was over before painting "Steelers" in the south end zone or adding the team logo at midfield. At the Sept. 9, 2009 kickoff game against the Tennessee Titans, the Steelers logo appeared at midfield in a home opener for the first time in several years. It remains to be seen if there are any plans to change the old-school Notre Dame-style striped end zone, or if it has become a Heinz Field tradition.