Sportexe

As the Baltimore Ravens head into summer practice they'll do so on one of the top-ranked fields in the NFL.

The team will be training, for the third year, on new technology turf - Momentum™ - from Sportexe®.

Not only has the advanced infill system received recognition from the NFL Players Association (the field at M&T Bank Stadium was ranked sixth out of 31 fields in the Association's 2004 poll), it's been extremely well received by the Ravens' players and coaches. Since the field serves as the Raven's home and practice field, they've had plenty of experience on Momentum™.

"Momentum is the next best thing to grass as far as I'm concerned," said Ravens' pro bowl line backer, Adalius Thomas. "The combination of support and give - for a synthetic surface - is wonderful."

Those qualities - support and give - provide what players like Thomas need to perform at elite levels.

Additionally, they're qualities that help ensure safety, particularly in such a high contact sport.

"Momentum provides a consistent surface that allows our players to safely condition, practice and play football," said Jeff Friday, the Ravens' strength and conditioning coach.

He and others on the coaching staff specifically sought a turf system that would deliver the utmost in consistency, durability and performance when they began researching synthetic field systems a few years ago.

In fact, after testing numerous products and ultimately choosing Momentum™, the team's head coach, Brian Billick, was quoted as saying, "You want three things from your field: safety, a consistent surface that allows these great athletes to compete at the highest level, and durability. We tested the Momentum™ turf and we believe it's the best possible field for the Ravens."

That statement apparently holds true today, given the field's high ranking by the entire League and more specifically, the Ravens' Thomas, who simply stated:

"I love playing on it."