Could we improve our 12th man at Arrowhead?
 

Arrowhead is loud and a fun, crazy place when it's full. In that atmoshphere we're known for having the best "12th man" in the NFL. We know it and we love it, however, I'd like to throw this against the wall and see if it sticks...I think we've got room for improvement.

We don't get loud...really loud...until the opposing team breaks their huddle and begins walking up to the line of scrimmage. By that time everybody knows the play, all they have to do is watch the ball or the snap or make sure they're paying attention to their silent cound signals, etc. Of course, this doesn't always work and we've seen many crowd causing problems (see opening MNF game) that benefited the Chiefs greatly.

Imagine if we could get that level of noise going while the opposing offense is in their huddle, or even better, slightly before they huddle up. If that peak level of noise could be achieved at that time and through-out their play, they'd have some serious problems. Half their guys wouldn't even be able to hear the play, the other half would think they heard it, they'd end up wasting timeouts and would be a confused mess before they even made it to the line of scrimmage. Imagine the benefit to our defense!!

What do you guys think? Should we spread the word and try to make that place rock before the offense is even ready to go? Any chance of actually spreading this idea and making it happen at Arrowhead?? With enough practice it might even effect guys like Peyton Manning who obviously is not effected by our crowd noise and has shown that plenty of times. But if the guys couldn't even hear the plays he's calling...well that could be another story.

Just something I've been kicking around in my head for a while now and even mentioned it in another thread recently (but I forgot which one and can't find it to see if anybody noticed it). thoughts?

To simply answer your long thought out opening post....

If the Chiefs brass got rid of the Gold section and replaced it w/ reg fan seating and not expensive executive type suites, then yes Arrowhead "could" get louder.

Those ****ers don't go to the stadium for the experience, they go there to make a statement "hey i've got $$$". They don't stand up and yell when opposing offenses are out on the field, they show up a few min into the 1st qtr, show up after halftime about 5 min into the 3rd qtr and they leave the game early. If you're not gonna go for the fan experience and act as "one" trying to help our team win, then why bother going?

Hopefully the Chiefs can get to a point where they are good enough to win games without having to rely on "the 12th man".

On the drive home after the game on Tuesday the guy that has Grunhard on his show made this very point. He said when Arrowhead first opened Gold seating was affordable to the average fan. He says now it's changed so the elite sit there and a lot of them spend their time up at the bar.

This eleventy billion times.

right....which is exactly why Arrowhead was louder back in the early mid 90's than it is now.

Arrowhead was loud during the DV era at times, but still didn't have anywhere near the effect it did back when we had DT, Neil Smith, Carter Hasty etc.

Sounds like my kind of seating.

I guess it was kind of long, which is apparently why you didn't read it. I'm not talking about how loud it gets. I'm talking about when it gets loud.

I do agree with this point, but again, even at the levels we're achieving now the time at which we reach our peak is what I'm talking about.

Well good idea..... But then our defensive players wont be able to hear their play either. :hmmm:

Apparently my original post was too long.

We don't get loud until the offense is already up at the line of scrimmage. Not our LOUDEST anyway. If we could do this while the offense is in their huddle, or even a little before they huddle up, even at our current levels of noise I think it would make a dramatic difference.

Of course, making seats affordable so it's louder overall is always good, too, but that's not what I meant to refer to here.

I bet they'd deal with it a lot better than an offense would.

I suggest we have someone stand in a red bikini by the new Lamar Hunt statue and hand out 78,000 flyers explaining this very strategy. I'd suggest the George Brett Statue, but it's been moved. :louder:

That's what I'm talking about! :)

THUNDERSTICKS FTW!!11

I don't care how good you are, a 12th man always helps.

It's kind of lame to blame the Gold Level.

They still have as many open air seats on the Gold level as they did in the 90's and we had no problem being loud back then.

And more to the point of this thread, the fans in the late 90's had it figured out, they had the timing down on when to get loud and when to shut up. That all changed when long time season ticket holders quit going to games. The new fans haven't got it figured out yet, they will one day.

oh god, that would be loud.

i love it when people bang on the seats and sounds like a thunderous roar.

having 76K plus banging those damn things. that i'd like to be there for.

Not only that the Chiefs players love it too. It pumps the defense up.

Somebody needs to tell those Gold Level people that the sound of jewelry rattling can be highly distracting.

FAX

I think didgeridoos would add a touch of class. Or maybe those horn things that were utilized at the World Cup.

cowbells like Mississippi state

All the Johnson County pukes in the Gold Section leave early so they don't have to pay their Wyandotte County babysitter an extra $8 for an hour of overtime.

The VIP makes it even worse because the people who do stay are sitting in the bar instead of out in their seat. Again, though, the entire gold section could be completely empty and it wouldn't matter. Obviously, it would be louder, but the level of noise isn't what I'm talking about here. I'm about the time at which that highest level of noise is achieved, whatever it may be.

Whether we reach 120 decibels or we're at 80, the TIME at which we reach that peak is what I'm referring to.

All we have to do is get 78,000 different people to all do the same thing at the same time... this should be pretty simple...

The fans in the seats in the lower and upper deck is where the sound comes from not the Gold level.

It's been like that since the place opened.

THe Omaha Beef fans (Indoor football) do the cowbell thing, and are reputed in the league to be the loudest fans. Opposing teams hate coming to OMaha because of the ear-splitting noise we make, including those DAMN cowbells. I can't even fathom what 76K cowbells would sound like...

Well, they're already doing it when they're there. We just need to get them to do it a little bit sooner. :)

Quit watching it on tv and buy a ticket to the game.

Trent Green said that the worst time to have the crowd noise in while in the huddle trying to call out the play.

Exactly my point. If the guys can't even hear the QB screaming out the plays they'll all walk up the line in the wrong places and be completely screwed before they even start. Arrowhead seems to wait until the QB has already given the play and they're all walking up to the line before we get loud, though.

Yeah, lets bash the level that helps pay for the signing bonsuses and other things. Real smart there.

Not sure my hand could take starting any earlier, not to mention I'm sure my voice would be gone by the 3rd quarter instead of the 4th. I'd definitely need to practice up a bit before, but think your idea makes complete sense.

They usually communicate through hand and body signals anyways. It's like that in all levels of football.

The only improvement our 12th man needs is a winning team.

Sorry we've already tried that and the crowd got a delay of game penalty against the Donkeys because the NFL was in love with crybaby horse face himself.

I know how we can make the 12th man more meaningful. We should all get a bunch of red towels and swirl them around in the air furiously. While we do that we yell and scream just like normal. The towels would send the opposing offense into a hypnotic state. We could call them "Terrible Towels".

Who was the idiot that thought that one up. Seriously, you are going to waive towels overhead? No banging on the seats in front of you, just swinging a towel around?

Has anyone tried those things from the World Cup? That might seriously bother the other team.

That was the stupidest rule ever ........... Thank God they got rid of it.

Vuvuzela Horn .... hehe .... That would make peoples ears bleed.

We need that banjo guy from the 49ers game.

We're one banjo guy away from complete dominance.

cough drops.

I don't remember who was saying it (maybe Trent Dilfer), but he said that noise in the huddle was the biggest problem. So the OP has a point. We need to be loud sooner.

Back in the 1960s you could buy red plastic Chiefs horns at Municipal Stadium. I used to have one. I think the NFL banned them in the 1970s. They were loud and annoying.

I had one of those!

The coach usually communicates to the middle linebacker through hand signals and then he tells the defense the play. Atleast that is how it use to be before the defensive players got comms in their helmets also. However, I don't know how much the crowd noise would effect that or not. Im sure it would have a greater impact on the offense since their play calls have a lot more words to them.

Glass half empty kinda guy, huh? You don't think an improved 12th man would help spark a winning team?

Now, how do we get 70k people to comply? :)

People can only be so loud for so long ......

Word of mouth. You started it.

Have everyone bring a needle and stick the person in front of them

My in-laws disagree with this statment.........

As long as the Chiefs don't go all Seattle with "12th man" as a merchandizing slogan. So ghey.

Heh, that could work.

Really, though, this could play huge dividends in a home playoff game. ;)