A 2020 seventh-round pick, Baltimore Ravens S Geno Stone has continued to grow every year. Recently operating in a starting role due to Marcus Williams’ injury, Sunday’s game in Pittsburgh to play the Steelers will be something of a homecoming for him as a New Castle native.
“It’s home, basically, to me. I played my last-ever high school football game in [Acrisure Stadium]. My first-ever NFL game I went to [was the 2008] Ravens-Steelers AFC Championship”, he told reporters earlier in the week, via the team’s website. “Just a lot of things go through my mind. I have a lot of memories there”.
The Steelers, by the way, had a chance to draft him that year. They took S Antoine Brooks Jr. out of Maryland instead a round earlier. Because, you know, they had Terrapin connections. But it would have been nice to have depth, too.
Growing up in the greater Pittsburgh metropolitan area, however, Stone has seen plenty of Steelers football. And he saw Troy Polamalu’s game-sealing interception against the Ravens in 2008, too, apparently, live in the stadium. He got to experience Renegade live as a fan before hearing it as an invading force. It’s no different to him, he said.
“It’s still the same feeling. It’s still energizing”, he said, via the team’s website. “Even in here, I feel like we get hyped whenever that song comes on, because you know, at that point, they’re trying to get the best out of the team. So, at that point, who is going to respond? That’s why I feel like we all get hyped when that song comes on”.
Now, this isn’t exactly a secret. The Ravens have prepared for Steelers games by blasting Renegade during practice for years, and I’m sure a number of players, like Terrell Suggs, came to identify with it. The song has been a staple of rivalry games in Pittsburgh for decades. We see the same thing with Bengals and Browns players.
That’s not exactly what the Steelers are looking for, of course. They want to energize their own fans and their own defense, as they play the song in late-game situations prior to key defensive series. It’s been said that there’s a correlation between their playing the song and the defense making a stand, though realistically it’s probably well within any margin for error.
Still, it’s become a tradition since Heinz Field first opened, and I think at least most fans probably still appreciate it. I know Styx does. I’m sure they get royalties, and Steelers fans at their shows. Maybe some Ravens fans as well.
