JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — An NFL Players Association survey revealed a rat infestation in the Jacksonville Jaguars locker room and detailed accounts of players' wives nursing their babies in public bathrooms.
The survey was taken by players from every NFL team. The Jaguars received good grades for their training and strength staff, but not for their facilities.
The survey's findings didn't come as a surprise to Jaguars President, Mark Lamping.
"If you look at the teams that score the highest, they all had the same thing in common there are new stadiums and new training facilities like I said I wasn't surprised at all by the score in fact we've known about it for quite some time that we have a lot of work to do on this facility in conjunction with the city." Lamping said.
Lamping believes the Miller Electric Center, the Jaguar's new sports performance center, will play a big role in fixing the facilities issues.
“It’s the first and necessary step to do two things. One, provide our players with the resources so they can achieve their highest potential. Number two it sets the stage for taking the stadium which is substandard by NFL measures and being able to get it to the position that it needs to be to support an NFL franchise here in Northeast Florida for generations to come,” Lamping said.
Lamping said the Miller Electric Center, which is scheduled to be finished by training camp, will make room for more accommodations for families in TIAA Bank Field, but more space doesn’t address the rodent issue.
“We only control what we can control, we don't own the stadium, we're the primary tenant, we don't have exclusive responsibility for the maintenance, we don't have responsibility for the capital improvements. But what we have done in conjunction with the city over the past three years now is try to come up with a plan where we can deal with all the shortcomings of the stadium including rodent issues," Lamping said.
First Coast News asked the City of Jacksonville how it plans to address the rodent issue at TIAA Bank Field. First Coast News is waiting for a response.
The Jaguars are in the early stages of redesigning their stadium and say shade is a priority for fans.
Former top-attorney for the City of Jacksonville, Jason Gabriel, negotiated with the Jaguars for previous stadium improvements.
In January, Gabriel told First Coast News he anticipates the Jaguars and the city to split to cost 50/50.
Whether it's getting rid of rats in locker rooms or shade over seats, Lamping said future improvements have to be done to help further the city’s growth.
“Are we getting closer to helping Downtown Jacksonville realize its full potential? There’s no one party that can do that but I don’t think I’ve ever been more confident that there are more and more people that are focused on downtown and that are continuing to invest just like Shad Khan,” Lamping said.