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Alabama broadcaster Chris Stewart ruffled feathers this weekend with an insinuation that the Tennessee football team pipes crowd noise into Neyland Stadium. It’s since become a major talking point amongst the SEC rivals!
Stewart was unaware of the impact his comments would make. This week, he attempted to clarify.
“They also pipe in crowd noise, as well.”
Suuuuurrrreeeeee. pic.twitter.com/c6pyTistyP
— Rob Harvey (@RobMHarvey) October 21, 2024
The remark came immediately after an Alabama false start put the Crimson Tide in a difficult 2nd-and-16 situation. The Volunteer crowd erupted with the opposition reeling.
After the game, Tennessee fans trolled their rival over the false claims. Now, the man who sparked the initial firestorm is chiming in!
Stewart said the following about his Saturday afternoon commentary:
“I misspoke, but it really wasn’t, in theory, off. I said that you have 100,000 (fans) and piped-in crowd noise. Which is 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.”
-Chris Stewart
He walked the claims back while still shading the Tennessee crowd noise!
Head coach Josh Heupel adamantly disputed the claims in his weekly press conference. In fact, he’s turned it into a challenge for the Vols in Neyland moving forward.
Josh Heupel on fake noise accusation in Neyland Stadium:
“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.”
(via @zachTNT) https://t.co/1FGxePcB7u pic.twitter.com/15QMkeuvWe
— On3 (@On3sports) October 23, 2024
Neyland Stadium has long been considered one of the loudest venues in college football. Attendees now have even more reason to make that point known this fall!
We’ll see if the fans answer Heupel’s call throughout the rest of the season.
Tennessee will have opportunities to make some noise in home games against Kentucky, Mississippi State, and UTEP in the second half of the football season.