The difference between a good sound and a bad sound comes down to perspective. The sound of machinery can be pleasing if you’re doing some home improvements; it’s not so pleasant if your neighbour is doing it.
For football players the sound of a crowd cheering can be the biggest adrenaline boost in the world if it’s your team making a big play at home. The same roar is not so great if it’s your opponent’s fans making the noise.
When the Toronto Argonauts run through the tunnel on Sunday to face Montreal in the Eastern Final, they’ll be greeted by the loudest ovation they’ve heard all year with the largest crowd of the season in the stands at BMO Field. An already passionate fan base will be supercharged for a game of such magnitude, with the winner advancing to the Grey Cup.
“Hometown crowds make a huge difference,” defensive back Shaquille Richardson told Argonauts.ca. “It really raises the intensity of the game. The moment gets that much bigger and it makes it that much harder for the offence to communicate. Our energy on the defence just rises when we hear the crowd going crazy.”
The home field advantage means different things in different sports. In baseball, the advantage changes how a game is managed, as having the last at bat in the ninth inning provides a gigantic advantage.
In hockey, most coaches put a premium on having the last line change and being able to match-up against the skaters the visiting team puts on the ice.
In football there’s no such edge; the visitors even get to call the pre-game coin flip. But while there’s no upper hand in the rules because a team is playing at home, the home field advantage in football can have an enormous impact on the game.
That’s where the crowd comes into play.
The noise generated by home fans can provide an enormous boost for the defence, and not just because of the obvious energy it produces.
“It takes away a lot of communication between players,” explained right offensive tackle Dejon Allen. “Football is I’d say maybe 75-percent communication, and not being able to have that communication just messes up everything. You just have to go off the snap on a hope and belief. That’s the biggest thing.”
If a crowd is loud enough, it means the offensive tackles – standing some 10-to-15 feet away from the quarterback – can’t hear the snap count, meaning they have to do something else to know when the ball is snapped.
It often leads to false starts or delay of game penalties, simply because there’s a problem communicating the snap count.
“There’s a lot of times when you can’t hear it,” the first-time all-star told Argonauts.ca. “What I have to do is use my peripheral vision and have to watch the ball – pretty much what the defensive line is doing.”
That too is a problem for offensive linemen, particularly those on the outside.
“I usually just keep my head straight,” Allen continued, acknowledging he has to tilt his head to try to see the snap when it gets too loud. “I don’t want to look at the ball, I want to look at my opponent. When is gets loud the right guard will stick his hand out and pull it back, which gives me a signal that the ball is getting ready to be snapped.”
Luckily for Allen and the other Argos, the roar of the crowd won’t negatively impact them on Sunday, it’s Montreal’s offence that will have to deal with it.
Defensively, the group will thrive on the noise, but they still have to communicate to each other before the ball is snapped.
“I would prefer that it’s hard for us to hear each other, because we have hand signals,” explained Richardson. “They (the opposing offence) actually have to communicate and talk before the play. We’ve got hand signals for almost all of our defensive checks, so if we’re looking at each other and have the hand signals down we’ll be able to communicate. It just makes it harder on them.”
Richardson has become the defence’s Shaq-of-all-trades, playing several different positions this season. He’ll be back at the boundary side halfback spot on Sunday against the Alouettes.
The University of Arizona product is not a huge believer in momentum, knowing that a play that doesn’t work has to be forgotten immediately.
“When there is a lot of momentum, in a high-pressure situation, and the crowd is loud; it does affect the offence for sure.”
Richardson and Allen may play different positions, but have several commonalities; both are from Compton, California, both play the game at an exceptionally high level, and both will be counted on to contribute if the Argos are to advance to the Grey Cup.
They’ll also be counting on a large, partisan Argo crowd to provide as much noise as possible to help them attain that goal.