Why is the Seattle Seahawk’s stadium one of the most feared places to play in the NFL? The 12th man.
In Tampa, the 12th man is in the parking lot by the end of the 1st quarter, having another piece of chicken and cracking open another beer.
What exactly is expected of football fans at the home stadium?
- Silence when the offense is on the field.
The offense needs the ability to communicate to each other, and when the huddle is broken, the quarterback often needs to switch up the play when he reads the defense. When the fans are being noisy, that disrupts the communication. - Be loud when the defense is on the field!
For the same reason as #1, the opposing offense should have a hard time hearing what their signal callers are saying. Shouting is encouraged at that time. In stadiums where the home team has the advantage, the fans are usually hoarse when they leave the stadium. - Support your team in Social Media.
This is one of my own pet peeves that I feed regularly by reading articles and scoping out Twitter and Facebook. It enrages me to see armchair quarterbacks bashing their team without ever stepping into a stadium to help out their home team. Those are the same ‘fans’ who complain about blackouts, yet if they supported their team in person, the blackouts would be unnecessary! Those are also the same fans who complain when they can’t get a ticket when a game is sold out.