It’s like an avalanche.
The roar of tens of thousands of screaming fans quickly drowns out the visiting quarterback’s voice. He switches to a silent count. It now takes just the slightest mistake, the smallest miscommunication to have the play unravel.
It could be an offensive lineman jumping early or getting off the ball too late or a slotback mistiming his waggle, putting himself offside or late on a route.
The crowd feeds on its own excitement. The noise reaches a threshold where you can’t even hear yourself think. It’s at that moment control of the game could be lost.
The effect of crowd noise is real and is a part of home field advantage.
“It just takes one mistake,” says Head Coach Chris Jones. “When you’re playing a tight game, it just takes one mistake. If you get them to jump off-side or if their offensive line is early and it’s illegal procedure, it just takes one play to turn the outcome of a game.”
The loudest pro football crowd ever recorded hit 142.2 decibels, which is roughly the sound of a jet engine from 100 feet away. The precision and preparation needed to coordinate 12 men in that noise is staggering.
Coach Jones pumps in artificial noise during practices to simulate the game day environment.
He says he can notice the effect the crowd has on players.
“When they walk out and they see a crowd, they’re only human. This is what they do for a living and most of them are here by themselves — they don’t even have family here — so when they walk out and see there’s a large crowd out there they know that what they’re doing is worthwhile.”
It’s that fan-fueled momentum. It’s the intangible and unmeasurable force that helps swing the pendulum of the game.
“It’s definitely a real thing,” says linebacker JC Sherritt. “Momentum is a real thing and you love to get it going because you can really get your game rolling.”
The scoop is this: the crowd is quieter while the home team offence is on the field and in a dizzying fervour when the home defence is on the field.
The hush allows home quarterbacks to coordinate the other 11 men. Conversely, the crowd roar mucks up the huddle for the visiting team.
“When you go on the road you want to play in front of a big crowd because you want to shut them up. I want it to be silent. I want to throw a touchdown pass and have everybody sit down in their seat. Just pull the energy right out of them,” says Eskimos quarterback Mike Reilly.
”There is no better feeling.”
With the Eskimos in the final stretch of the season and home playoff game locked up, the Green and Gold army will bring the noise.
“I’ve been in stadiums where it’s been loud enough you can feel the vibration on the ground, you can feel it in your legs and in your feet and that’s pretty intense,” says Reilly.
“That’s what makes football fun, it’s those crowds.”
