Steelers' Ramon Foster Detailed The Time Ben Roethlisberger Was Drawing Plays In The Air In Seattle Due To Crowd Noise

The Pittsburgh Steelers are headed into a fierce West Coast battle for Week 17 against the Seattle Seahawks. These two teams have history, with the Steelers beating the Seahawks in Super Bowl XL. The game, which will be played on New Year's Eve, will either be the icing on the cake of an inconsistent season, or close 2023 with a bang. The Steelers need to win to have a shot at the postseason, but so do the Seahawks. As the team has been prepping for the game, they are also preparing themselves for the noise that comes with Lumen Field. One former Steelers player shared a story about the unbelievable loudness and the craziest thing he ever saw happen during a game, and it happened to be in Seattle. 

Former Steelers offensive guard, Ramon Foster protected Pro Bowl quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for over a decade. During that time, he saw a lot of crazy stuff. He now co-hosts a podcast on DK Pittsburgh Sports called The Ramon Foster Show. He frequently tells his co-host, reporter Dejan Kovacevic, stories about the amazing things he witnessed Roethlisberger do. 

Now the Steelers are packing up to head out west and the topic of noise at Lumen keeps coming up. The exuberant, cheering fans make it hard for visiting teams to call audibles or communicate with each other. While teams practice with fake crowd noise piped in, nothing quite simulates the real thing. Teams also practice hand signals to overcome the inability to hear each other, but it is not foolproof. 

Crowd noise can cause false starts and delay of game penalties as the offense gets flustered. It can also create some psychological impact on visiting teams. If you have ever been to a game at Acrisure Stadium, the 2023 10th loudest stadium, you have witnessed opponents getting rattled. It is hard to measure the mental impact, but it is a real phenomenon, especially with more inexperienced players. It makes the opposing team feel the momentum is going in favor of the home team and can motivate them to make big plays. It definitely gives home teams a boost. 

Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger Blew Ramon Foster's Mind

Roethlisberger was never known to get rattled in opposing stadiums. His record on the road is 73-51-1. Foster said that during that game against Seattle, Roethlisberger had to get creative to find a way to overcome the crowd noise and communicate with his running back, DeAngelo Williams. 

"Ben was trying to give an audible to DeAngelo Williams and it was so loud in there, I think we might have been in second and long or third and long. Ben had to point to D-Will and actually draw up the route for him in the air. He had D-Will running a quick slant because I think he saw they were blitzing us. He told D-Will, 'Hey, you, in here' and pointed, like 'Hey you, quick-in.' By far, it's one of the craziest things I've ever seen Seven [No. 7] do. I'm looking back because I'm the one that's got to do the tap before we snap the ball," shared Foster.

Foster told Kovacevic that it worked. Roethlisberger could motion to Williams in such a way that he knew what he wanted him to do. His quick thinking made it so the Steelers could adjust on the fly based on what Roethlisberger saw from the defense. 

"It was fascinating. I'm watching him give D-Will an audible on which route to run and he actually threw it right to D-Will. Coolest thing or one of the coolest things I've ever seen."

The Steelers will be up against that noise level on New Year's Eve and it will be interesting to see how longtime backup quarterback Mason Rudolph will respond since it seems as though he will be starting in place of Kenny Pickett. 

The design of Lumen is why it is so loud. While their fans are certainly exuberant, their noise level is amplified. It opened in 2002 and the way it was built on less land (also having the seats angled closer towards the players) makes it unique. The additional angled overhead coverage, which is meant to protect fans from inclement weather, also forces the sound back down toward the field, which condenses it. 

For anyone who is pooh-poohing just how loud it is, they set a Guinness World Record in 2014 for crown noise at 137.6 decibels, which is the same as a jet taking off. This is all thanks to their "12th man" advantage. It is currently considered the second loudest stadium behind Arrowhead Stadium, home of the Kansas City Chiefs. 

It isn't just football that gets Lumen rocking either. A recent Taylor Swift concert actually caused seismic activity with her "The Eras Tour." The fan noise registered what is equal to a 2.3 magnitude earthquake. 

The Steelers have to overcome a lot of adversity to beat the Seahawks. It will be more than just crowd noise, they also have a banged-up defense with a patched-together linebackers group. Not to mention an injured starting quarterback. After the win against the Cincinnati Bengals during Week 16, it appeared that the "heart" the team had supposedly lost was back. After all, winning fixes everything. 

What was the craziest thing you ever saw Roethlisberger do? How have you witnessed crowd noise impact a team? How do you think the Steelers will fare against the Seahawks this weekend?