Alabama radio play-by-play broadcaster Chris Stewart clarified his comments about the piped-in noise at Neyland Stadium during the 3 Man Front radio show on WJOX 94.5 in Birmingham Wednesday.
Early in the game between Tennessee and Alabama from Neyland Stadium on Saturday, Stewart suggested that Tennessee uses piped-in crowd noise in addition to the already loud 100,000+ fans.
“Second-and-16 is not what you’re looking for,” Stewart said on Saturday. “Especially with the crowd noise being what it is here. You got 100,000+ and they also pipe in crowd noise, as well.”
Tennessee fans shared the clip on social media in the following days as it continued to pick up more and more steam. Tennessee Director of Athletics Danny White denied the suggestion on Monday as he claimed the crowd noise is strictly delivered by the fans in the stands.
Stewart clarified his comments from Saturday on Wednesday:
“I didn’t think anything about it when I said it,” Stewart said on WJOX. “And somebody with nothing to do decided to go back and find a clip from before our broadcast. I misspoke, but it really wasn’t, in theory, off. I said that you’ve got a hundred thousand and piped-in crowd noise, which was not what I should have said. What I should have said is amplified noise. And that’s clear. They do it. They’ve got speakers all on the field level, behind our benches, pointing toward the stands. It was extremely loud and it absolutely adds to the noise level, which was my point, although I may have misphrased. But that’s a fact.”
More from RTI: Tennessee HC Josh Heupel Sends Message to Fans for Upcoming Home Games in Wake of Fake Noise Claim
Tennessee’s field-level speakers are used for noise but not the artificial crowd noise that Stewart suggests. A Tennessee spokesperson clarified on Wednesday that the speakers on the field and around the stadium are used to project stadium music and the public address announcer, not a recording of previous crowd noise.
During Alabama’s 4th-and-22 attempt in the fourth quarter on Saturday, Tennessee played their “Spooky Rocky Top” song prior to the play. As you can hear in the video below, though, even the massive speakers in and around the stadium could barely project the song over the sound of the crowd gearing up for the play. Fans have commented on the video that they were in the stadium and didn’t even know the song was being played.
Aside from a celebration or crowd storming, Tennessee’s 4Q fourth down stop against Alabama was one of the loudest I’ve ever heard Neyland Stadium pic.twitter.com/JlKPE9ErcC
— Ric Butler (@Ric_Butler) October 20, 2024
Stewart also slipped in a shot at Tennessee fans at the end of his answer as he was critical of the way Vol fans have been taking in the victory in the 72 hours after the win.
“It had zero to do with Alabama losing the football game,” Stewart continued on to say about the noise in the stadium. “I never once said that it did. That was something that fans choose to do, and then they’ve won now twice in the last 18 years, and rather than celebrate it they opted to pick that. It really wasn’t anything meant derogatory towards Tennessee. It was not an excuse. It was a comment about the noise in that moment.”
Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel stuck up for the fans when questioned about the story during an open week press conference on Wednesday in Knoxville.
“I had not heard that,” Heupel said about the original claim. “Neyland doesn’t need anything fake piped into the stadium for that to be the loudest place in America. Hopefully, our fans take that personally, enjoy this bye week and come back and be louder than ever next time we’re at home.”
Check out the full clip from 3 Man Front on WJOX below:
“It was extremely loud and it absolutely adds to the noise level…”
Voice of the @UA_CTSN @CStewartSports addresses his comments on the crowd noise in Neyland‼️🗣️ pic.twitter.com/2KXouLXD8j
— 3 Man Front (@3ManFront) October 23, 2024
One Response
I detect sour grapes from Stewart and McCarron.