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Danielson: "I don't know if .... "
Darlington: "Boy was I wrong.
The noise was a constant, oppressive force. I could literally feel it on my skin.
It was every. single. play.â
2016
Tennessee's Neyland Stadium changed the perception of home-field advantage to this former Oklahoma player.
www.saturdaydownsouth.com
Darlington visited Tennesseeâs Neyland Stadium during his time as a player at Oklahoma. Hereâs what he had to say about it.
âI was never a big believer in homefield advantage,â he wrote. â
I scoffed at the notion that a fan could actually have an impact on a football game. You have a hostile crowd? Good. I feed off of hostile crowds, and I embrace it when fans ridicule me. You think youâre loud? Whatever.
Your homefield advantage is incredibly overrated. Bring it on. Youâre wasting your breath.â
Then, he felt Neyland Stadium get under his skin. Literally.
âAnd then
I ran out of the tunnel in Knoxville, Tennessee, FOR WARMUP and was greeted by thousands of screaming fans and the chorus of âRocky Top,â Darlington said. âThe game wasnât set to start for over an hour, and these people seemed to think it was kickoff time.
âWhat followed in the 4 quarters and 2 overtimes of play was a dissertation on the impact a crowd CAN have upon a football game. The Vol faithful made it absolutely impossible to communicate. On the first drive, we had to change our snap count, because even our silent count was ineffective against that wall of noise.
Boy was I wrong. The noise was a constant, oppressive force. I could literally feel it on my skin. But these fans werenât just loud on the first drive. Or just on 3rd down. Or just in the fourth quarter.
It was every. single. play.â