Cairo Santos had a unique strategy to prepare for the rugged conditions at Soldier Field.
Soldier Field is notorious for having a rough playing surface, with wind and frigid temperatures damaging the grass. Already, with the Bears’ first preseason game looming, the grass is in poor condition; Santos described it as “sandy” and noted that he’s “seen better.”
So Santos, Chicago’s place kicker, set out in search of equally tattered fields across Florida — where he had been training — to best equip himself for game conditions.
“I was going to a turf field at a high school, which was perfect,” Santos told reporters. “It was almost like, ‘OK, I’m getting too comfortable.’ So in my neighborhood, there’s a soccer field and the grass is a Bermuda grass. It’s real long. I was like, ‘OK. This is more like it.’”
The condition of the grass impacts how Santos, an eight-year NFL veteran, approaches his kicks.
“The ball flies different,” Santos maintained. “It’s not super even all the time. … It’s important to put yourself in that situation.”
Santos, entering his third season with the Bears, said he expected the adverse conditions. And, to his credit, he has handled Soldier Field admirably so far. In 2020, he nailed 93.8 percent of his field goal attempts — a franchise record — and made 86.7 percent of his tries in a solid encore performance last season.