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Who really said it

Do You Prefer Grass or Astroturf" "I Don't Know. I Never Smoked Astroturf

Not Charles Edward Greene — actually Tug McGraw Tug McGraw 1944–2004 · Major League Baseball relief pitcher (Mets, Phillies)
Disputed In copyright

Mets reliever Tug McGraw told a reporter in April 1974 that a boy had phoned a San Francisco TV talk show to ask whether he preferred grass or astroturf, and “I told him that I had never smoked astroturf.” Quote Investigator ↗ documents this and concludes McGraw originated the quip. The credit to “Mean” Joe Greene comes from a 1985 Scottish newspaper.

Last verified 1 Nov 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

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Disputed wording — copy with the correction

“Do You Prefer Grass or Astroturf" "I Don't Know. I Never Smoked Astroturf” Tug McGraw, quoted in the New York Times, June 30, 1974; earliest documented in The Times (San Mateo), April 30, 1974. Often misattributed to “Mean” Joe Greene. · Verbatim: “And I told him that I had never smoked astroturf.”

Can you use it?

Still under copyright (rights held by The publisher of The Times (San Mateo, California), for Garry Niver's April 30, 1974 article). A short, credited quote is generally fine for talks, teaching, and internal decks; for commercial, published, or large-scale reuse, get permission.

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In context

Evoking the world of Tug McGraw — MLB relief pitcher, New York Mets & Philadelphia Phillies. Theme: "Do You Prefer Grass or Astroturf" "I Don't Know. I Never Smoked Astroturf". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Minimalist

Minimalist editorial slide for the quote "Do You Prefer Grass or Astroturf" "I Don't Know. I Never Smoked Astroturf". Clean background, a single muted accent color, generous negative space, subtle paper or linen texture, no literal illustration — let the words carry it. Reserve clear space for a serif quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Provenance

The earliest documented version

Article
“McGraw: The Mets’ Wacky Folk Hero” by Garry Niver
Published in
The Times (San Mateo, California), April 30, 1974, page 19
Speaker
Tug McGraw, then pitching for the New York Mets
Documented by
Quote Investigator, February 14, 2011 (notes updated March 8, 2025)

Back in the Mets’ locker room, McGraw laughed and said that he might get in trouble for something he said as a guest on a San Francisco TV talk show the day before. “A young boy called up and asked me if I preferred grass or astroturf,” chuckled Tug. “And I told him that I had never smoked astroturf. I guess that I shouldn’t have said that.”

As transcribed by Quote Investigator. QI says it has not seen footage of the TV show, so McGraw’s exact words on air are not known. The short form people quote today, “I don’t know, I’ve never smoked AstroTurf,” appeared in the New York Times on June 30, 1974.

Quote Investigator: Dialogue Origin, Do You Prefer Grass or Astroturf

How the line traveled

  • April 30, 1974 — The Times (San Mateo) runs an interview in which Tug McGraw says he “had never smoked astroturf,” a line he had given a caller on a TV talk show (Quote Investigator ↗).
  • June 30 and July 3, 1974 — The New York Times (“I don’t know, I’ve never smoked AstroTurf”) and then the Los Angeles Times print the quip, both crediting McGraw (Quote Investigator ↗).
  • 1982 — Morrow’s International Dictionary of Contemporary Quotations credits Joe Namath instead (Quote Investigator ↗).
  • July 8, 1985 — Scotland’s Evening Times credits “big Mean Joe Green” (sic), in dialect: “Ah don’t know man. Ah ain’t ever smoked Astroturf” (Quote Investigator ↗).
In copyright

The earliest written version is in a 1974 newspaper article, so under the site’s US rules it is treated as in copyright. Very short spoken quips may not be protected by copyright on their own. That is a separate legal question, and it does not make the 1974 article public domain.

Rights status is our research, not legal advice — and copyright varies by country and edition. For commercial or published use, confirm with the rightsholder. See terms.

Fact-check

Who else gets the credit

After 1974 the quip was passed around and credited to several other famous athletes. Quote Investigator ↗ says these credits “appeared in later years and may be imitative and/or apocryphal.”

Charles Edward “Mean Joe” Greene Later credit

In July 1985, a Scottish Evening Times profile of a local American football team put the line in Greene’s mouth, in dialect. The paper spelled his name “Green.” QI cites nothing earlier that links Greene to the quip (Quote Investigator ↗).

Joe Namath Later credit

Credited in Morrow’s International Dictionary of Contemporary Quotations (1982). Anthony Burgess repeated that credit in a 1986 collection, and quote websites such as iwise.com and thinkexist.com carried it as of 2011 (Quote Investigator ↗).

Bill “Spaceman” Lee Also ascribed

Paul Dickson’s Baseball’s Greatest Quotations (2008) credits McGraw but notes that “this quote is also widely ascribed to Bill Lee” (Quote Investigator ↗).

The earliest record is McGraw’s own account in April 1974. QI concludes that “he originated this quip although it is possible that other athletes used it after he did” (Quote Investigator ↗).

Context

Why the joke landed

McGraw was known for offbeat sayings. He was the Mets reliever behind the 1973 rallying cry “Ya Gotta Believe!” (Wikipedia ↗). By his own account, he made the grass-versus-astroturf crack on live TV in answer to a young caller. He then told a reporter he might get in trouble for it.

The joke depends on the double meaning of “grass” as marijuana. A short version fits easily into a wisecrack column, which is how it reached the New York and Los Angeles papers within weeks. From there it drifted to bigger names in football, including Joe Namath and “Mean” Joe Greene.

“I told him that I had never smoked astroturf.”

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Happiness Simplicity

Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Dialogue Origin: Grass or Astroturfquoteinvestigator.com

Quote Investigator's full investigation, with dated citations from 1974 through 2008
Charles Edward Greene filequoteinvestigator.com

Quote Investigator's category page for quotes credited to Greene
Tug McGrawen.wikipedia.org

Biography of the pitcher QI identifies as the originator
Tug McGraw statisticsbaseball-reference.com

Career record: Mets 1965–1974, Phillies 1975–1984
Joe Greeneen.wikipedia.org

Biography of Charles Edward "Mean Joe" Greene, the Steelers defensive tackle
Joe Greene, Hall of Famerprofootballhof.com

Pro Football Hall of Fame profile (Class of 1987)

The real source

About Tug McGraw

Tug McGraw

1944–2004 · MLB relief pitcher, New York Mets & Philadelphia Phillies

Frank Edwin “Tug” McGraw Jr. pitched for the New York Mets (1965–1974) and the Philadelphia Phillies (1975–1984). He coined the Mets’ 1973 rallying cry “Ya Gotta Believe!” and got the final out of the Phillies’ 1980 World Series win. He was known as one of baseball’s great characters, and he was the father of country singer Tim McGraw.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Earliest documented in

Garry Niver, “McGraw: The Mets’ Wacky Folk Hero,” The Times (San Mateo, CA), April 30, 1974, 19; as documented in Quote Investigator, “Dialogue Origin: ‘Do You Prefer Grass or Astroturf’ ‘I Don’t Know. I Never Smoked Astroturf’,” February 14, 2011, https://quoteinvestigator.com/2011/02/14/smoke-astroturf/.

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘Do You Prefer Grass or Astroturf I Don't Know. I Never Smoked Astroturf’?” Last verified 1 Nov 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/do-you-prefer-grass-or-astroturf-i-dont-know-i-never-smoked/

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